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Teachers feel they are not given enough credit for their work and receive little respect from school principals, an Education Department survey reveals.

 But none of the school principals polled in the study were satisfied with the ability of teachers or their attitudes.

 The survey, released yesterday on Teachers' Day, was based on interviews with about 8,500 teachers in the past academic year and 7,700 from both primary and secondary schools in the previous year.

 About 1,200 school principals in the past academic year and 1,100 in the previous period were polled.

 The teachers were asked to rate factors including work pressure, administration and relationships with colleagues, parents and students on a scale of one to five, with five 'very satisfactory', three 'average' and one 'very unsatisfactory'.

 They rated principals below average - 2.8 to 2.9 - when asked whether workloads were allocated fairly, if credit was given after they had completed assignments and over the structure of curriculums.

 An average of 2.5 was given over work pressure.

 They did not feel their opinions were taken into account and gave an average rating of three.

 But teachers believed that they had good job responsibility while giving a rating of four for their social status.

 School principals rated teachers as 'mediocre' - three to 3.6 - in terms of character, knowledge of subjects, skills and abilities and human relationships. Non-degree teachers in primary schools and teachers with or without a degree in secondary schools were given low scores - 2.8 and 2.9 - in professional knowledge.

 They were not satisfied with teachers' emotions, conduct, adaptability, level of co-operation, leadership, competence, manners and attitude, rating below four in all aspects.

 However, the level of satisfaction in most areas for teachers and school heads at special schools was higher than that found at regular schools.

 Fanny Lam Fan Kit-fong, principal education officer of the Education Department, refused to comment on whether officials were disappointed with the findings but said there was 'room for improvement'.



School heads give 'little credit or respect'