A high school teacher in Sydney, Australia has called out his fellow colleagues over complaints they are underpaid, claiming teachers have a lot of benefits compared to other industries.
Tano De Guzman said teachers and principals can earn up to $150,000 (Australian dollars) [$97,000 USD] a year based on their experience.
The average teacher’s wage in Australia currently sits at around $90,000 a year [$58,000 USD.]
“Why are teachers still complaining?” De Guzman asked.
“School teachers complain they’re not getting paid enough but the average school teacher wage is about $90,000 [$58,000 USD].”
“School teachers complain about working overtime yet we have 12 weeks of holidays when everyone else has four weeks and we have one of the shortest working hours, from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. (AEDT) than any other professionals, and people still complain.
“Do we really have it hard, or are we just making excuses?”
De Guzman went on to say teachers who complained about having to work overtime were just “very bad with their time.”
Members of the public weighed in with comments, and some weren’t happy.
“Perhaps you are a lazy teacher because all the teachers I know work through holidays, on the weekends and their day is 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. (AEDT),” one person said.
“I’ve grown up with two parents as teachers, not that they have complained but they work a lot of overtime,” another said.
Others said teachers in Australia “don’t know reality” and should be happy with what they’ve got.
“Problem is they live in an echo chamber. Their friends are teachers, they’ve never left ’school’ and don’t know reality,” one said.
“World’s smallest violin for the teachers,” another commented.
The Australian Government last night announced $770 million (Australian dollars) [$497 million USD] for “better schools, happy and healthier students and more qualified teachers,” including mental health checks, improved ventilation, and air quality, and bursaries worth up to $40,000 [$26,000 USD] to tackle a teacher shortage.