It has already been known to many that one of the most difficult jobs is being a teacher. And just recently, a study has proven that among all the other professionals, teachers tend to receive more unhealthy amount of job-related stress.
The National Foundation for Educational Research in United Kingdom bares that one out of five teachers feels more tensed all or most of the time, compared to one out of eight workers in similar professions.
While the study was conducted in UK, the same implications can be said for the Filipino teachers who also suffer from work-related stress to a considerable extent, if not, to a higher extent than British teachers.
Most teachers get paid by working up to 40 hours a week or 8 hours a day. However, the workloads that are being given to them requires more time. This pushes them to work even after classes, which basically means that they have to either sacrifice or juggle their responsibilities at home for their responsibilities as a teacher.
Here in the Philippines, the number of teachers is not evenly proportional to the number of students. With this reason, they have to face significant challenges on giving their students what they are supposed to learn.
SUGGESTED READING: World Bank Expert: You Want Good Quality Teachers? Give Them Better Pay!
Numerous factors also contribute to the difficulties of being a teacher. The lack of facilities and equipment, personal life and struggles of their students, and the environment of the school where they are working are also the burdens being carried everyday by teachers.
The unending workloads, low salary, and great accountability taken by them leave the question— why is teaching still one of the most underappreciated jobs? Maybe, it’s time to also consider the situation of teachers, rather than focusing mostly on students.
Based on the same study, nurturing, supporting, and valuing teachers are vital on making teaching a rewarding career choice. “In order to do this, there is a clear need to improve the working conditions of teachers, with a focus on making the teaching career more manageable and sustainable,” Jack Worth, co-author of the study, added.
If the hardships of teachers would be included in the image everyone is looking at, and those who have the power will do something about it, then a quality education would be easier to be accessed.