THE TEACHER TURNOVER SYNDROME

THE TEACHER TURNOVER SYNDROME

The rate at which teachers resign is shocking: Reem Bakheet, education & social activist

Turnover in our education sector is increasing at a colossal rate – for women in specific, even in a small school like mine. Teaching is a very big responsibility and unfortunately, it is not seen that way. When we become educators, we are taking the responsibility of shaping individuals and building their foundation – everything we say, everything we do, counts. If we don’t take it seriously, how will we fulfill the task at hand?

With women in specific, the turnover is quite high. To understand why we must gain some context. Teaching back in the day was the only occupation a woman was allowed to consider if she wanted to work. Whether she loves kids or hates them, whether or not she knows how to teach and whether she has a certification or not was all irrelevant.

These days, the issues have increased. When a woman gets married, engaged or pregnant, she will suddenly resign because she now has more responsibilities or maybe because her husband will now not allow her to be a working woman. This attitude needs to change. There’s a balance between work and personal life which can easily be attained provided we want to.

“My husband won’t allow me to attend the seminar,” is something I hear every now and then. Then I have to speak to the husband over the phone and explain why the teacher should go to the seminar and why it will be beneficial. Suddenly – I am now talking to the teacher’s husband and not my employee anymore.

This is not how it should be. If we want to become educators, we must decide why – is it because we just want a job or is it because we are passionate about educating children. If the choice is the latter, only then should we enter this profession because the rate at which teachers resign is shocking.