Teachers feel health in decline
Kindergarten teachers feel their health is worsening and energy flagging because their jobs are increasingly demanding, a Hong Kong Institute of Education survey has found.
The average response of teachers polled said their health had declined in the 18 months since the study began. They also said they had accomplished less than they thought they should have.
Dr Christine Chan Mei-sheung, assistant professor of early childhood education at the institute, finished the 18-month study in July. She polled 1,026 teachers, including 192 student teachers, at 18 kindergartens. She asked them to rate their well-being in nine categories, with 100 considered ideal and a rating of 50 or below being unsatisfactory.
The teachers' average mark was 60.56, 15.71 points lower than the average Hongkonger's.
Teachers also rated their health worse than counterparts in Hangzhou , Singapore and Taiwan, when compared with other studies.
Teachers faced more pressure with increasing numbers of mainland pupils and the need to offer better quality of service, she said.
