The mentor’s hardest goodbye
Teacher’s suicide rose this year. This has brought to the attention of the Department of Education ( DepEd) already and called on all teachers on how to manage stress through different approaches.
First incident of suicide was reported last March 2018 when a female teacher was found hanging at the back of the classroom. Second incident followed involving a public school teacher, again.
Based on the recent suicide- related incidents, it is already a public knowledge that teachers committed suicide due to personal problems, depression and alleged piles of paper works. The questions are: What are the action plans of DepEd? Do they have sound recruitment policies before they officially hire the applicant? Are they using up- to- date approaches to determine whether or not the teacher- applicant is mentally fit? How about the teacher- applicant, isn’t it that prior to their job application, most of them, if not all, are aware of the challenges? How about the government, aren’t they alarmed of what is happening within the education system?
Public school teachers faced different challenges including but not limited to their salary and wages, benefits, work location and assigned work- related tasks- the alleged gazillion paper works required for compliance by the agency. And in reality, teaching profession is a tough job since then.
You can compare the life of public school teachers before to the present situation. It is more convenient to prepare the lesson plans with the aid of available technology. But handwritten reports are still reliable.
The greatest moral obligation of teachers is to provide excellent quality education to their students and to be the role model with high level of professionalism. Amidst of this high calling, teachers are human beings and are not free from all the emotional and mental health issues.
Teaching is the noblest profession. We all know that teachers will never be a king or a queen because they make one. The deaths of these teachers are attributable to the pressure and issues they face every single day. The government should look into crafting and developing appropriate plans, programs and other related activities that will lead not just to their personal development but to their mental health as well.