Assalamulaikum dear members of Salaamedia
This is very confidential and difficult matter for me to address to you but really I’ve tried other means but I’m just not coming right.
The issue at hand is that of the manner in which our female Islamic teachers , commonly known as appas (Muslim female primary teachers in Islamic schools) are treated in some institutions.
More so, I bring up the matter of the payment they receive for the work they do in imparting knowledge to the children of the Muslim community.
I know very well that the ultimate contribution is to be able to teach without any remuneration for free, but in today’s times very few have that privilege available to them.
Many of the appas who decide to teach in maktabs (Islamic education facilities) do so out of real need for themselves.
Many are single mums, divorcees or from families that are struggling to make ends meet.
So many of these young ladies have sacrificed many years to learn Islam so that they can become well versed and provide good quality education to our children.
And then when you look at what the males are earning in the same madressah there is a huge difference.
For the same work they earn much more. I know they have family responsibilities, but many appas are are supporting other family members and often have the same responsibilities as the men.
And when you look at the head teacher, mostly males, what they earn is shocking. It can be up to 6 times more than what the appas earn. They do all the admin but hardly often get involved in teaching, which is the real test.
We love our jobs, we love our learners, we love our deen. But this is such a depressing situation and our motivation is low. So now this begins to rub off on the learners.
Are we being selfish by just asking for a little more? Right now there are appas earning as little as R1200 a month for working 3 to 4 hours 5 days a week. That’s about R17 to R18 an hour. That’s just a little more than a domestic helper. Is this how much we as a community value the Islamic education and Islamic teacher of our children?
Please raise this issue on air.
Concerned sister
