Build One SA leader Mmusi Maimane believes teachers should be paid the same as doctors.
This comes on the heels of the recently announced 87.3% matric pass rate for 2024, a big step up from the previous year's 82.9%.
“Teachers should be paid as much as doctors,” Maimane said on X.
“I value teachers. I value them equivalently to a physician. To produce economic prosperity in any nation, teachers have to be placed in positions of high esteem, socially and financially.
“The standards for teaching should be as rigorous as any other profession where you are the custodian of a child. We must stop playing games; the value we place on teachers is the value we place on the education of our children.”
However, his statement met backlash on social media, with many arguing doctors put in longer hours and deserve their higher salaries. Maimane said teachers play a vital role in shaping future leaders, including doctors, and therefore deserve equal compensation.
Teachers should be paid as much as doctors: Maimane
Journalist
Image: Werner Hills
Build One SA leader Mmusi Maimane believes teachers should be paid the same as doctors.
This comes on the heels of the recently announced 87.3% matric pass rate for 2024, a big step up from the previous year's 82.9%.
“Teachers should be paid as much as doctors,” Maimane said on X.
“I value teachers. I value them equivalently to a physician. To produce economic prosperity in any nation, teachers have to be placed in positions of high esteem, socially and financially.
“The standards for teaching should be as rigorous as any other profession where you are the custodian of a child. We must stop playing games; the value we place on teachers is the value we place on the education of our children.”
However, his statement met backlash on social media, with many arguing doctors put in longer hours and deserve their higher salaries. Maimane said teachers play a vital role in shaping future leaders, including doctors, and therefore deserve equal compensation.
“Nobody disrespected doctors. I value healthcare practitioners immensely. However, doctors, engineers and physicists — all are the products of dedicated teachers who spend more than a decade sculpting that excellence.”
One social media user pointed out that teachers have the luxury of regular breaks, whereas doctors often work 24- or 48-hour shifts.
“They start marking at 1pm and planning lessons for the next day. They also run sports and cultural programmes in schools. The hardest working people in any hospital or clinic are the nurses. We don’t pay nurses enough in this country.”
Others suggested politicians are overpaid and their salaries should be reduced to help increase teacher pay. Teachers should earn more than MPs.
Recently, unemployed doctors in the Eastern Cape protested to demand jobs after their community service training contracts ended. Maimane expressed support for doctors and teachers, committing to bring the issue of unemployed doctors to parliament.
“I value doctors and fight for them, and I value teachers and fight for them. I value them equivalently.”
TimesLIVE
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