BACK TO SCHOOL: ISSUES IN MONGOLIAN EDUCATION

WELL, SUMMER IS OVER AND IT’S TIME FOR ALL STUDENTS TO GO BACK TO SCHOOL.

STUDENTS AND TEACHERS ALL OVER THE GLOBE HAVE BEEN VERY BUSY FOR THE PAST WEEK GETTING READY FOR THE FIRST DAYS OF SCHOOL, EXCEPT FOR STUDENTS IN JAPAN AND KOREA WHERE THE SCHOOL YEAR STARTS IN MARCH.

I am a teacher at Orchlon School. I am amazed at how many people in Mongolia don’t know that Orchlon School is not merely a High School any more. It is a pre-Kindergarten to Grade 12 School. I write “Grade 12” because even though the Mongolian school system only goes up to grade 11, Orchlon provides post-IGCSE, A-Level Cambridge courses for which students can receive college credit. Our first day of classes begins today; however, today is not the first day of school. The first day of opening ceremonies around the country were held on Saturday morning, after which we watched a televised lesson by President Ts.Elbegdorj.

The President’s lesson was interesting. Select students from around the country were assembled in a large room and given the opportunity to ask him questions. Of course, I couldn’t understand more than a few words, but I noticed that the President gave long-winded answers to given questions, and not everyone in the room was allowed to ask their questions before time ran out. It is my personal opinion that the President should have answered questionsbriefly in order to give more students the opportunity to ask their questions. I do feel however, that it was a wonderful opportunity for the students of Mongolia to have face-to-face interaction with their country’s President. Apparently, this is the fourth time that the President has conducted such a special lesson, but this year is different in that the Ministry of Education decided that all students around the country should hear the lesson. For rural areas that didn’t have the infrastructure to view the lesson in real time, transcripts will be made and distributed to all schools in Mongolia.

While it is nothing new, that gifts to teacher have been discouraged in Mongolia, the new Minister of Education, L.Gantumur, is emphasizing this policy this year. “No child should be discriminated against for not being able to give presents,” said Minister L.Gantumur. Therefore, the presents that teachers will be allowed to receive are those given collectively by the whole class in supervision of the parents’ council. Such a policy is not surprising to me, having taught in Asian countries for 16 years. In Asia, teachers have been known to receive very expensive gifts from parents wanting special attention for their child. Mongolia is trying to provide equal education for all, and such a move is laudable; however, is it enforceable?

A friend of mine has a child in the public school system of Mongolia. He frequently is asked for money for class projects, materials, supplies, and decorations. After he pays the money, none of the materials, supplies or decorations materializes. It makes me wonder where the money is going.

Is it any wonder that teachers in Mongolia ask for more compensation when their salaries are so low? The United Nations Educational, Science and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) reported in 2009 that Mongolian teachers made between 50% and 70% of the average salary in Mongolia, making the teaching profession very unattractive. UNESCO further reported that because of low salaries, only about 50% of graduating teachers actually go into the teaching profession. Info Mongolia dot com reported on May 1, 2012 that prior to 2008 the average civil servants’ salary was 300,000 Turgriks per month (less than 300 US dollars). In 2008 the government raised salaries by 20% and in 2010 the government raised salaries by 30% making the average salary 410,000 Turgriks in 2011. However, apparently those raises did not include teachers’ salaries. Info Mongolia dot com reported in November of 2012 that the average teaching salary was still 300,000 Tugriks per month. As a result, in December of 2012, over 10,000 public school teachers from 108 schools went on strike demanding that the government fulfill its obligations to raise salaries.

Honestly, I do not know how teachers survive on such low salaries. My studio apartment alone costs more than 300,000 Tugriks per month. Clearly Mongolia does not care about the quality of education in Mongolia when teachers are so undervalued. The Mongolia Daily Economic Update recently reported that Members of Parliament (MPs) in Mongolia get paid an average of 10 million Tugriks per year. If you consider that they go on vacation for two months, then that comes out to about 1 million Turgriks per month. Mongolian MPs get additional benefits which include food and travel expenses. Teachers don’t get their food or travel expenses reimbursed. And, here’s the kicker: Mongolian MPs are allowed to receive gifts. Yes, MPs can receive gifts, but teachers cannot. Seems like a double standard to me.

Paul Sullivan of Georgetown University wrote an article for the UB Post dated August 22, 2012. In it, he wrote, “Mongolia has a real chance to be a wealthy country. Its people have a real chance to be much healthier, happier, more educated, and better trained.” Paul Sullivan continues, “With the massive wealth in the ground that could be extracted, sold, processed, improved, and traded the average Mongolian really has a right, and even a responsibility, to dream of the model Mongolia.” Yet, the money seems to be going into MPs pockets and not into education.

Now, if I may switch from teachers to the children, Mongolian children have issues, too. According to UNESCO’s Education for All (EFA) report of 2011, of those that enroll in Mongolian primary schools, only 95% stay to graduate from primary school. There is no way to know for sure how many children do not attend school at all. According to an article by Rosie Slowe, published in the UB Post on August 17, 2012, “When Mongolia changed to a free-market economy in 1990, it led to a significant rise in unemployment, which coincided with poverty and alcoholism. The increasing stress put on families resulted in more and more children suffering from violence, abuse, exploitation or even abandonment.”

“The rise in street children,” she continues, “…was a result of the country’s social upheaval over the last two decades and stemmed from two main reasons. Often they ran away from an unhealthy and harmful family environment. The other reason is abandonment by parents.”

With a thirty percent poverty rate in Mongolia, many parents do not have the money to feed their children, let alone pay for school books and school supplies, which are not provided by the schools. In conclusion, there are many issues to be dealt with, and with the increasing wealth coming to Mongolia from the ground, I hope that there is a grass-roots movement to improve the quality of education in Mongolia in the future. I say, “Spread the wealth, Mongolia!”

SOURCE : UB POST

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