Arresting brain drain in schools

Perennial problem: Zuwati said burnout is not a new issue and it is crucial to relook at what could be the cause of it and how it should be tackled. — Filepic

THE trend of teachers voluntarily choosing to leave the service years in advance needs to be addressed.

Cases of those who opt out because of burnout and feeling helpless from the workload, Universiti Malaya Education Faculty senior lecturer and teacher-trainer Dr Zuwati Hasim said, are unfortunate and sad.

As a start, the teacher-student ratio should be looked into, she said, as it is difficult to handle oversized classrooms with a disproportionate ratio.

This is topped off with the fact that each class has students with different behaviours.It’s among the reasons why sometimes students do not get sufficient quality feedback in relation to their learning performance, Zuwati explained.

“Teachers given tasks outside their job specifications must also be reviewed.

“There are too many programmes or activities that require plenty of preparation time and protocols. This leads to teachers having to stay back and work extra hours.

Zuwati: It is high time to consider relocating teachers living far away from their families as it will ease their emotional burden.

“These extra hours should instead be allocated to prepare their teaching materials. So, limit the number of activities other than what is stipulated in the syllabus or the curriculum,” she told StarEdu.

She further suggested that school activities could be embedded into the existing teaching content or within extracurricular activities instead.

Teachers living far away from their families are another factor that needs to be looked into, she shared, adding that it is high time consideration for relocation was given to such teachers as it will ease their emotional burden.

Additionally, provide teachers with the autonomy to develop their creativity in finding the best ways to help their students.She emphasised that there are often those who perform well but are not rewarded accordingly, and are sidelined for their creative and out-of-the-ordinary teaching. “It must be pointed out that there’s no one-size-fits-all approach; hence, it is vital to give teachers autonomy.

“Besides, the school leadership plays a role in making the school a happy working and learning place.

“Good leaders should support their subordinates to achieve their aims and goals,” she said, adding that teacher training modules should look into inculcating values like integrity and equality, as well as quality, excellent and less authoritative leaderships.

While tasks such as taking students’ attendance, and evaluating and keying in their marks are part of teachers’ duties, she said keying in students’ personal data is an administrative job.

This should not be given to teachers and needs to change. As such, there is a crucial need for a clear job description as basic guidance for all in the teaching system, Zuwati stressed.

“Giving a pay raise will attract people to stay in the profession but having a poor working environment plagued with various issues will not stop teachers from leaving either.

“If the Education Ministry is serious about ensuring quality education and teaching, these are some of the grassroot issues that need to be tackled.”

Describing teaching as a noble profession, she said it takes not only knowledge, but also interest, passion and patience to become an educator.

“Teacher burnout is not a new issue and it happens everywhere in the world, so we need to ask what could be the cause of it and how we should tackle it.

“Focus should be given on their well-being,” she emphasised.

Isaiah: We must ensure that teachers do what they are trained to do, which is to teach and educate our students.

On April 21, The Star highlighted that among the reasons some teachers are retiring early include personal, medical and workplace reasons, and wanting to take it easy after more than three decades of service.

One way to keep teachers in the profession, Pemimpin GSL programme director and former Orang Asli school teacher Samuel Isaiah said, is to elevate the status of teaching.

Teaching as a profession of choice and one that is respected, he pointed out, has been on the decline and so, more effort needs to be put into raising the status of teachers in the country.

It will attract the best teachers and keep the best in the profession.“Separately, teacher workload, stress and doing things outside their scope of teaching have been prominent problems in the profession.

“So, we must ensure that teachers do what they are trained to do, which is to teach and educate our students,” he said.

The Varkey Foundation Global Teacher Prize 2020 Top 10 finalist said there must also be better teacher professional development and the mapping out of their career trajectory must be given better thought.

The two components, he stressed, are some of the “most ignored” aspects of the teaching profession.

Over the course of the career stretched over decades, he said, the journey can become lonely and stagnant.

“Teachers therefore need a sense of growth. The professional development options they currently have are severely limited.

“We can involve the private sector more in teacher training and professional development, locally and abroad.

“It will give teachers a sense of moving forward, diversify their knowledge, enable them to network with other teachers and give them an insight into best practices and education systems around the world,” he added.

Echoing his sentiments is Teach For Malaysia chief executive officer Chan Soon Seng, who said teachers must be set up for success through quality professional development that will help them keep up with technological changes, and in addressing the wide gaps in student abilities.

The administrative burden of teachers, as well as unnecessary tasks, should continually be reduced, he added.

This can be done through further digitalisation of administrative tasks, Chan offered.

“Retaining the most skilled teachers in the profession for as long as possible is essential.

“Teachers need to be better equipped to do their jobs. Many teachers spend their personal income on materials, equipment and devices to facilitate learning effectively and in a more relevant manner.

“Providing better resources for teachers can help relieve the overall burden of the profession,” he said.

A former teacher-trainer who only wanted to be known as Manoharan recommended speaking to teachers, asking them what their concerns are, and acting on the feedback.He said teachers should also be involved in policymaking processes as they are the ones on the ground.

“Departments will say that certain policies are implemented based on experts’ opinions, but when it comes to teaching schoolchildren, it is teachers who are the real experts.

“We also need to restructure the system in schools where there are non-academic staff who can handle administrative tasks.

“Tasks like gathering data should not be heaped on teachers’ shoulders. At the end of the day, what is being done with all these data (and paperwork)?

“We need teachers to teach,” said Manoharan, who was a teacher-trainer for 12 years.

Catering to the different levels of students in a class is a mammoth task, he said, adding that as such, there is a vital need for assistant teachers in schools.

It will help teachers focus on their teaching and learning process.

He reiterated that the way forward in understanding why teachers are opting for early retirement is to listen to their voices – from those who are still in the system as well as those who are opting to leave early.

Retired teacher Samuel Yesuiah J.S. Moses said although some of the extra and non-teaching duties are related to their jobs, teachers are being deprived and robbed off their time in effective lesson preparation and meaningful classroom interaction.

“Teachers today are faced with too many students, too much paperwork, too little time for lesson preparation and too many meetings, courses and deadlines.

“Reduce the number of children in classrooms. A classroom should not have more than 20 students.

Chan: The administrative burden of teachers, as well as unnecessary tasks, should continually be reduced.

“Additionally, education officials should not ‘push’ teachers with deadlines and paperwork as many of them are already facing undue stress and burnout,” he added.

A possible solution to teachers having to do clerical and paperwork, he said, would be to deploy officers who were trained teachers but now serve in the Education Ministry, state education departments and district education offices to schools to assist teachers.

Alternatively, schools could employ clerks.

“Happy teachers make effective and good teachers.“School infrastructure needs to be improved, with air-conditioned classrooms, state-of-the-art teaching and learning facilities, lounge for teachers to rest, sufficient stationery and a good cafeteria.

“Good news for teachers would not be in the form of monetary increments or cash benefits, but in the reduction of their workload.

“Therefore, let them teach and facilitate the dissemination of knowledge, skills and experience,” he added.

THE VIEWS

Burden behind the scenes

I AM tired of the system because it feels as if no one is really concerned about the burden teachers are carrying.

We are required to file in paperwork for all kinds of activities and programmes but at the end of the day, no one reviews it. It just sits in our storeroom after all that work.

It is frustrating and tiring because I barely have enough time to even mark my students’ homework.

My core job as a teacher is to educate my students, which I am not doing anymore.

Secondary school English and Physical and Health Education (PJK) teacher Jamilah

HEALTH issues are the main reason I’m opting out early.

But the stress from work and an unhealthy work environment, which added to my health issues, have played a role.

When you do not find satisfaction in your job, it affects you in many ways. I would have opted out five years ago if I had been financially stable.

Teachers are stressed every day because expectations are unrealistically high – there are too many programmes to handle, the system is unfair and there is too much bureaucracy.

With the workload, there’s barely any time to breathe.

Malaysian University English Test (MUET) teacher Jyothi