Last week I talked about the growing loan problem of our teachers, wherein over 123 billion worth of loans under GSIS and another 178 billion in private lending institutions as of 2016. There’s a lot of factors to this like our financial literacy, loan and money spending culture as well.
It’s easy to say that teachers should find “creative ways” to teach with the limited supplies but I’m not a teacher and from my understanding the education system requires such supplies for teaching to an extent.
The fiscal reality of our classrooms
Classrooms are often over-crowded, there never seems to be enough time to get through all of the standards, and there are never enough supplies. As a result, it is often tempting for teachers to spend their own money on classroom supplies. Without colorful words on the walls and a variety of books, teaching can be difficult and, in some cases, simply uninspiring to the children.
Don’t spend your own money, raise funds or look for other sources
If you keep buying them with your own money you will go broke. As I learned early on during my volunteering, advocacy and social development years, you need to be selfish in order to be selfish. How can you give more for charity if you yourself needs charity? How can you give more for your passion when you no longer have anything to give? How can you have more impact when you are so limited in resources? Be selfish, take care of yourself first and then others come next – prioritize and be practical.
Ask – First to ask is the school. Next is the PTA – Parents Teacher Association. If that’s not enough, then go to community organizations, then to corporate organizations or foundations (Adopt-a-school programs, fund raisers, brigade eskwela partners, equipment donors and the like).
Raise your own – You can organize (together with other teachers) your own fund raising event. Go online and make a crowdfunding project! Spark Project locally or you can take it international even.
Go the entrepreneurial route – I know a few teacher friends who don’t think they are entrepreneurial but if given a chance to give the best learning environment for their kids, would do anything and everything. That’s how passionate they are. So if you need funds, then you can spend your own money that’s not from your salary but rather from your side income.
You can use your expertise and experience to teach online. Do research or school reporting. Make or edit articles and videos. There’s so much abundance in the internet. Sell your handmade or used stuff, and basically try out freelancing gigs related to education.
What do you think? How do you support your child’s teacher, or if you are a teacher, how do you save money in the classroom?
Back to personal spending and loans
It’s all about self-awareness and asking yourself questions. Why do you need to loan and spend more? For what? Is it a need or a want?
You should also be aware of “Lifestyle Inflation” which means we tend to spend more when our income increases. Avoiding lifestyle inflation means that when you receive a raise, you don’t increase your purchases.
Feeling that you have the right to spend more in order to prove your success is tempting. Remember that your success shouldn’t be tied to material goods, but rather how you put your money to work for you and your long-term goals.