In 1999, I started teaching at a
private school, following my secondary school education. My salary then was
N1000. It was something that was barely enough to sustain me, even for one
week. I usually walked to that school to teach, trekking for about 20 kilometers.
Sometimes, I would feel like
begging my students for food, during lunch break. The teacher was hungry, and
the students had food, given to them by their parents.
Despite the fact that the money
paid per month was too small, the school owed me consistently.
Before I started working as a
teacher, I was sustaining myself through hard labor. My teenage years were
particularly hard as I had to carry bricks, soil, firewood, etc. in order to
earn a living.
When people complain of
hardships, I usually laugh, because hardships have been in existence for time
immemorial; the noise just got louder.
I decided to utilize my
secondary school education because I was getting tired of labor jobs,
especially because you might work hard in the hot sun and you wouldn’t get paid
that day, and you would go to bed hungry.
Nothing to show for twenty years
of teaching
A private teaching job is easy
to get but it is one of the poorest paying jobs in my country. Only a few
schools can pay sizeable amount of money.
Public school teachers are
better off, as they have job security, higher pay and pension plans. Private
school teachers get hired and fired at will, and they get owed a lot.
I taught at some private
schools, but taught mostly from house to house. Most people call me “Uncle.”
There was respect, but there was no money.
Some parents appreciated and
paid promptly. A few paid well, and most paid low. Some parents bought extra foods for me or
gave me extra gifts. Some parents disappointed me and some owed me.
I have been insulted by some
students and some parents. I have been appreciated by some students and some
parents.
Some parents owed me and carried
the debt to their grave and some parents wanted me to continue teaching their
kids when it was clear that they couldn’t pay. Some parents fired me abruptly
and I fired myself in some cases because parents couldn’t pay.
Some of my formers students have
become louts; some have given births to unwanted children. Some former students
have graduated and attained higher education than me, and some have made
commendable achievements in life.
When some of my former students
see me, they greet me heartily and some shun and avoid me when they see me.
Nothing to show for many years
of teaching labor, save the fact that I was able to keep the body and the soul
together. I had to save money for 5 years before I could rent a one-room
apartment in a ramshackle face-me-I-slap you building.
There was a plastic mat on the
floor, with a cloth hanger and books. Yes, lot of books: But no television, no
video, no chairs and table.
The beginning of my breakthrough
Online trading and online
business are a real game changer in my life. Online business and activities
like Forex, Binary Options, Cryptos investments, advisory services and e–currency
exchange eventually lifted me out poverty and make me financially
self-sufficient.
Without online business, I would
be riding a motorcycle or a Marwa (motor tricycle) for a living. That is why
you need to take chances if you don’t want to spend the rest of your life as a
post-office clerk.
The lot of the private teacher now
is much more dismal than it was about 20 year ago. Parents are now poorer and
the teaching job is more glutted than ever.
Any joy in teaching?
Yes, there is joy. There is
fulfilment. The only thing is that I loved what I was doing and had passion for
it. It satisfied my heart. It is a good thing to see those you tutored in the
past, reaching maturity and becoming responsible adults and attaining higher
heights.
Apart from that, I hate to think
that the rewards of the teacher are in heaven.
I was single when I depended
largely on teaching; but now that I have mouths to feed and heavy
responsibilities on me, private teaching can never sustain me again.
Profits from games of knowledge: https://www.predictmag.com/
