NO ONE TALKS ABOUT TEACHERS MENTAL HEALTH !

By Sachin Solanki 

 

We are living in times when talking about mental health and its intersection with and influence on other forms of health is being normalized more than ever before. More and more people are coming out with their stories and experiences, making discussions around mental health more stigma-free. From celebrities to house-helps, mental health leaves no one. Yet, it is only unfortunate that we don’t talk enough about the mental health of people whom society depends so much on- about people who build lives through sharing and creating knowledge and these people are none other than our teachers.

 

What’s troubling them?

 

Teaching can be both a rewarding and a gruelling profession. The sense of satisfaction and fulfilment that comes through the dissemination of knowledge and ideas can be an enriching and illuminating feeling.

 

But teaching can also be a field filled with challenges and hurdles. Rigorous and exhausting schedules, requirement of tailored and student-specific approaches and pressure from various actors like parents, school authorities and sometimes even the government can act as major obstacles in making teaching a safe and fulfilling profession.

 

This profession demands a continuous shift in how we organize and share ideas. And no ideas can be shared to the last mile if it’s not well-cooked in the first few steps. It is precisely for this reason we believe that the mental health of teachers and people involved in the education system is a sine qua non for a healthy learning atmosphere.

 

Another obstacle is the lack of adequate infrastructure and tools to share knowledge. This can become a frustrating and demoralizing exercise, more so at the ground level where things get more complicated by the intersection of factors like caste, class and affordability. And together such factors can discourage and undermine the teachers’ confidence and ability to create better learning spaces. Last but not least, teachers in public and state-aided schools carryadded responsibilities and duties of contributing to other assignments other than teaching. Being available even on offdays to contribute to non-teaching duties is explainable and justifiable in the short run but can be deleterious in the long game. While private schools with better funds at their disposal have the wherewithal to provide teacher-friendly spaces and flexible working environments, it’s the non-private institutions that suffer the most.

 

What we must do?

 

It is no exaggeration that such setbacks can truly disincentivize young people from choosing teaching as a profession and owing to this, more often than not, teaching in our part of the world becomes a last refuge for people against unemployment and not a first choice. This also tampers their performance, thereby creating vicious cycles of poor results.

 

Efforts must be made to organize counselling sessions for teachers where they can express not just their grievances but also their doubts and fears. For this, we need a network of dedicated safe spaces consisting oflocal NGOs and mental health experts. We also need to configure how we view efficiency and hard work. Long working hours do not necessarily mean better outcomes. It can very well turn into disasters and senseless labour.

 

Efforts are required to make working hours and schedules more teacher-friendly with adequate time for leisure and relaxation. At HEEALS, we believe that proper mental health cannot be looked at in a separate silo. It must be seen as one ingredient of a larger system.

 

Mental health’s intersection with physical, social personal and sexual health should also be explored more to provide better results. Creating helplines and safe avenues for discussions and individual expressions can be good baby steps but we will eventually need more.

 

Ministry of Education provides psychosocial support through its MANODARPAN initiative to deliberate on mental health issues of both the teachers and students. Similar initiatives need to be multiplied with support of local institutions and communities which can participate in unleashing a social transformation.

 

Last but not least, what we need in the end is a shift in attitude where teaching as a profession must be treated with respect and thoughtfulness because teachers are also human beings and their emotional well-being matters because without teachers there are no students.

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