Introduction to Global
Urban Education
Michelle Steele
8/1/13
Session 7
Education in Emergencies
Teacher Compensation
For this assignment, I was asked to focus on one of the
thematic areas presented by the International Network for Education in Emergencies
(INEE). I chose to focus on the
toolkit regarding teacher compensation. It was difficult to choose just one,
but this is one I am curious about and one my project team has had some
questions about recently.
I chose to investigate this theme as it relates to my work
with “Project Nathanael”, a small group of 6 educators working to support a
tuition-free school in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. One of the reasons teacher compensation has become
complicated to for us is because of our relationship with our fiscal sponsor,
Haiti Mary Care (HMC). HMC had the
initial relationship with the school in Port-au-Prince (Institut Educative
Nathanael, or IEN), and HMC had already started supplementing teachers’
salaries when my team (Project Nathanael) arrived. Therefore, as it stands now, HMC pays part of the teacher
salaries and Project Nathanael pays part of the teacher salaries. To further
complicate the situation, HMC contributes a monthly stipend to the principal’s
family. We also recently hired two
cooks for the school’s new lunch program (very exciting!) but had a hard time
settling on the cook’s salary.
We also had a recent snafu when the Haitian MoE extended the
school year by 10 days or so. We
had budgeted for a 10-month school year, but now the school year was extended
into July. The principal assured
us that the norm would be to pay teachers for the full month of July, even if
they only worked a week or so of that month. This created a dilemma and a mismatch of expectations
between the donors and the teachers.
At any rate, we as a group have recently had some questions about how to
best handle teacher compensation, and I decided to see what the INEE toolkit
had to say. This toolkit inspired
many ideas which I hope to implement with my team.
1.
Research
local salaries
As I stated, I only recently joined this
team of amazing and inspired educators, and therefore I do not know how the
teacher salaries were decided upon. But the INEE notes suggest researching the
market norm and trying to match that as closely as possible. I do know that the dedicated teachers
at IEN were making much less than they could have at comparable private schools. Depending on what has already been
done, further research may be needed to ensure that our compensation is on par
with the norm for the area.
2. Coordination
with the MoE
This idea presents a whole host of
challenges that I am not sure how to deal with. However, the guidance notes suggest, and I agree, that we
must recognize and respect that the government and education authorities have
the principal responsibility for ensuring teachers are compensated. Project Nathanael currently does not
have a relationship with the Haitian MoE.
My understanding is that that the Haitian government is currently unable
to finance public education, although plans are in place for a new tax to
develop an education fund. I have
many questions about education funding in Haiti and what a relationship with
the MoE would look like, but I think it is an important avenue to pursue. The
guidance notes reiterated that using outside funds for teacher compensation
should be a short-term, and an exit strategy is needed for sustainable
solutions. It is unclear when the
Haitian government might be able to step in to cover teacher salaries, but
co-ordination with the MoE is needed.
As a start, we do have some contacts with folks doing work similar to
ours who do have a relationship with the MoE. Furthermore, in terms of non-monetary compensation the notes
suggest providing professional development activities recognized but the MoE. We do currently provide several options
for professional development, but further co-ordination with the MoE pay prove
beneficial to our teachers.
3.
Develop a
detailed contract
Because of my only recent involvement with
Project Nathanael, I am not sure of the specific details of the teacher
contract. I believe that the teachers do sign a contract each year, but I am
not aware of the details. The
guidance notes suggest including a code of conduct, teacher hours, teacher
workdays (could help with the problem we just ran into in July!), maternity
leave and sick leave rights, and a graduated salary schedule. Again, some or all of this could be in
place, but I like the guidance notes suggestions here and think they need
follow up. Of course, if a contract
is to be developed, it will need to be based upon input from and collaboration
with the director, teachers, and community members. I am not sure there is any graduation of salary among
teachers (accounting for experience or qualifications), which may need
considerations.
4.
Begin
conversations about non-monetary compensation
This was the most interesting and promising
idea to me. On a recent trip, after replenishing the supply closet, we put
together smaller “classroom kits” with some chalk, pencils, stickers, and other
supplies for each classroom. The
teachers misunderstood and thought that these were gifts for them. While we do offer them professional
development, books and embroidered work shirts, this error pointed out to me
that they would appreciate further forms of non-monetary compensation. I love the idea of tuition assistance
for teachers’ children, teacher meeting time, professional development
activities that the Haitian MoE officially recognizes, and more. Again, we must start by asking
questions and finding out what kind of non-monetary incentives our teachers
value, and we need to work within our given budget. But I am optimistic that this idea can be incorporated into
are compensation strategies.
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