This is another article that highlights the challenges for policymakers and teaching professionals in staying focused. These are issues that existed with the new layer on top of the issues raised by the pandemic. The article mentions the frustrations of teachers in the US and why teachers are leaving the profession. This could equally apply globally including of course Fiji.
In summary, the article states:
Teachers are overworked and fed up with stress and disrespect.
An “alarming number” of educators say they plan to leave the profession, one union warned.
“I think I was on the brink of breaking,” Connecticut’s 2019 Teacher of the Year said after quitting.
So maybe nothing new that we did not know. But, in the new "COVID normal" world do things need to change? Is this an opportunity for example to increase the responsibility of 'assistant teachers' or 'teachers aides', provide mental support for teachers (and students), change the methods used in teaching, change even the language of what teachers are to society? Plenty was said about the 'post pandemic' world by leaders around the world and how the world would be different.
All of this is not easy of course and needs to be decided in the context of limited resources including financial capability. One thing remains is that ultimately teaching is a fundamental nation-builder on which the next generation is built and shaped. It is up to us as teachers to ensure that we also shape the environment we work in. In the meantime, let's carry on doing the best that we can, as we always have done.
Here's the link:
