When lecturers are expected to be on call 24 hours a day

DURING any Teacher’s Day celebrations, the tribute messages often paint a picture of a respected mentor guiding eager minds.

But in 2026, the reality for many Malaysian lecturers is far less idealistic. We are increasingly being treated not as educators but as 24-hour “customer service agents” in a rapidly commercialised higher education landscape.

The modern academic is currently caught in a “tripartite squeeze”, managing a drastic surge in student enrolment, hitting punishing research KPIs, and providing expert consultation.

But the most draining part of the job is the “service-oriented” shift. In a “student-as-customer” model, we are expected to provide the same level of responsiveness as a retail help desk regardless of the hour or the day.

Technology, which should have liberated our schedules, has instead become a digital leash. The WhatsApp culture in our local institutions has effectively abolished the concept of personal time.

We find our personal hours routinely intruded upon by “urgent” student queries at midnight and administrative directives from management on weekends. This constant state of being “on call” is a primary driver of the performance fatigue sweeping through our faculties.

Recent data from the Higher Education Wellbeing Outlook suggests this is more than just “busy-ness”.

Nearly 55% of academic staff now report high levels of emotional exhaustion specifically linked to the labour of managing student expectations.

Furthermore, the “Readiness Gap” identified in recent studies shows that lecturers are spending significant personal time performing remedial emotional and academic labour for a generation of students who view education as a commodity they have purchased.

As student numbers skyrocket, the faculty support system remains stagnant. We are expected to maintain “VIP service” levels for hundreds of students at once while still producing world-class research. This is a mathematical and emotional impossibility.

On Teacher’s Day, we appreciate the flowers and cards. But what we truly need is for the “Governance Gap” to be closed. We need institutional policies that respect the “right to disconnect”.

We need to be allowed to be scholars and mentors again, rather than 24/7 service providers.

LECTURER

Kuala Lumpur