Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1266179
14 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 5 JULY 2020 NEWS JAMES DEBONO FROM 2008 to 2018, the number of teachers in Malta who resigned from their teaching post spiked by 119%, from just 26 in 2008 to 57 in 2018. And the number of students registered for the teacher education courses at the Univer- sity of Malta declined by 20%, from 334 in 2017 to 268 in 2019. This has resulted in an increase in the recruitment of supply teachers who do not have the appropriate pedagogical training, from 21% of all state school- teachers in 2017 to 29% in 2018. Independent researcher Fabian Galea is asking the question: why are teachers quitting their jobs? And he warns that students "may end up with the least ex- perienced or unqualified teachers that disturb the continuity and success of their educational programmes". The study, published in the Malta Re- view of Educational Research, is based on interviews with 15 former teachers or qualified students who gave up on the profession before even starting teaching, all of which participated in semi-struc- tured, audio-recorded interviews. The study found various reasons for teacher's attrition, ranging from low sal- aries to a hostile school environment. No reward for a hard job Most of the interviewees perceived their salary as unsubstantial and discour- aging. When compared to other gradu- ate professionals, one of the teachers de- scribed the teacher's salary as "rubbish". Another perceived it to be "miserable". Others lamented the school environ- ment as being "quite old in a way that [schools are] not attractive enough for students". One of the schools lacked an indoor gym. This meant that "if it rained, I was expected to do the lesson just the same... For the kids it would be like [a] 45-minute lesson they get a little drizzle but for me it was 6 hours being in the rain". No respect for teachers Most teachers lamented the low status ascribed to their profession. According to one of the teachers inter- viewed, society views "the teaching pro- fession as a great job for a mum, or for a parent". But this perception is attributed to the general public's limited and po- tentially envious reasoning. "They just look at the job as from 8am to 2pm and... that you as a teacher get the summer holidays, you get the Christ- mas holidays, Easter holidays ... They actually look at the holidays only and say you're only a teacher, you know you don't do much!" To make matters worse, "other pro- fessionals see you as a babysitter rather than a professional. This had a negative effect on me". In this way, society's negative percep- tion towards the teaching profession is creating a "ripple effect", which demoti- vates teachers. This makes the low sta- tus attributed to the profession an im- portant contributory factor to teachers leaving the profession. But contrary to these perceptions, teachers lament that the job leaves them little free time. "You go home worrying about it and you never seem to cut off," one teacher said. This sentiment was more common when the interviewees were married or co-habiting, as teaching diminished their family time. "A lot of people think that being a teacher is family friendly. Well it's not," said one of the interview- ees. "When I went back home after a day's work, I was totally exhausted that I couldn't do anything. I was too tired. Too tired to perform in my hobby... too tired... too tired to do anything," a pri- mary school teacher said when asked about her workload. Other teachers lamented working out- side school hours. "I was given a lot of lessons... so the stress was intense [dur- ing the school day] and after at home I had to continue planning... until 8pm every day." Those teaching subjects like Physi- cal Education also faced subject stigma due to the lack of importance ascribed to their work. "It makes you feel disap- pointed, angry and… not bothered, be- cause why should you give your 100% when you know that nobody not even your colleagues will appreciate." Bullied by students and their parents Other factors contributing to teacher's quitting their jobs was the attitude and behaviour of both students and parents. One teacher recalled that he was shocked that students use "swear words in every sentence they're using". Anoth- er teacher recounted an episode where his colleagues: "...had scalding water thrown at them" and other instances when "teachers were touched inappro- Malta's secret crisis: teachers quitting schools Why are teachers quitting? A new study sheds light on the troubles of Maltese teachers leaving the profession, finding low status ascribed to the profession is demotivating the teaching profession "One minister wanted the college system, the other wanted co-ed, and so on. Everybody wants to leave their mark; everybody wants to be known in [the] future as someone who brought a change in education."