Female teachers employed in remote areas have sad stories to tell. They are torn between giving up the source of their family income and finding work elsewhere, preferably in an environment that doesn't make such mentally and physically exhausting demands. Pressure to give up their work comes from all sides. Atiyah and Amal work in schools of Wadi Hajr, 250 km away from Jeddah. Every morning at dawn they and several other teachers leave Jeddah, only returning to their husbands and children shortly before sunset. The journey has its own hazards. One day, their car broke down in the middle of the desert, leaving them stranded with no survival kit. They were fortunate in that their driver managed to find a tow-truck. As they arrived at the school that day, they were met by a representative from the Control and Investigation Board who said the road was too dangerous and wanted to hire teachers from neighboring villages instead of Jeddah. A. Al-Solami, from Jeddah, has been working in Hajr for eight years, leaving her sick father who needs her constant care and attention. Al-Solami, who also has younger brothers to take care of, said she was worried most about her father. “I get scared every time the phone rings when I am at the school. I always fear the worst,” she says. Frequent car accidents, a fact which has recently led the government to change its policy on teacher placement, are also a concern. Widad, a colleague of Al-Solami, mentioned a recent car accident in Tuwal involving teachers on their way to Jeddah. One teacher was killed in the incident. Another teacher has been threatened with divorce by her husband if she does not give up the job. Yet another teacher is reduced to tears every time her relatives call to tell her that her asthmatic daughter is having another fit. She wants to see the Ministry of Education reassign teachers to schools in their cities of residence. Abdullah Al-Harbi, a resident of Hajr, says that 1,000 teachers from the area have graduated this year. “The needs of the village schools are always covered by teachers from the cities, while graduates from villages find themselves unemployed,” he said. – Okaz/SG __
