Teachers worth every grain of their salt

Teachers are engineers of the human soul. This has been the belief in China since ancient times. Teachers, as some believe, should be distinguished in their thoughts and morality and talk less about "material" things so that they do not give off "copper smell", a term used to describe a person's greed for money.

But a large number of teachers in Zhaodong of Northeast China's Heilongjiang province, have been forced to the opposite - to demand their rightful due in an increasingly materialistic world. Several thousands of middle and elementary school teachers across the county-level city took to the streets on Nov 17 in protest against their "low pay" and failure to get social security and housing subsidies for many years. They complained that Zhaodong is among the country's top "100 counties" in terms of its economic power, but teachers' monthly salary there was at least 1,000 yuan ($163) less than that of their peers in neighboring counties.

The next day the city's Party chief, Zhao Shengli, apologized for the "deviations" in the implementation of local policies and promised to pay the housing allowance and subsidies. Also, he persuaded the teachers to resume their classes. "Classes should be resumed right away, because it is very important for our children and this is also what parents are most concerned about", he said.

Teachers reportedly returned to the schools but still refused to take classes, saying they are not satisfied with the official reply, because it makes no definite promise of a salary hike.

That so many teachers in Zhaodong had to resort to extreme measures to seek their rightful dues - because their appeals through "normal channels" went unheard - is not good for society. Had the local government paid enough attention to the problem or put in place a transparent communication and coordination mechanism, the teachers would not have been forced to take to the streets and students would not have lost so many classes.