Respect the right to time out

IT’S 5pm and officially the end of the working day for most workers, including teachers. It’s time to recharge, relax and reconnect with family members.

At 7pm, my smartphone pings. It’s a message reminding me of a meeting in the morning. At 9pm, the phone beeps again. It’s the extracurricular head who wants to know if the online posters for a language carnival are ready. At 9.30pm, an emergency Google Meet is called. At 11pm, a text asking about the contents of one online brochure arrives. At 11.30pm, I’m at the laptop, editing a series of flyers to be sent via Telegram for immediate approval.