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There are several reasons for deciding to end the teaching career. Some claim that everything is based on pay. Others complain about the government’s insufficient attention to the personnel of educational institutions. There is also increasing talk about the psychological pressure teachers face.
More recently, a teacher committed suicide in the Biržai district. The Biržai police have launched a pre-trial investigation into the cause of death and the municipality has set up a special commission to investigate whether this cannot be related to the employment relationship.
Psychological pressure, psychological harassment: a real problem
Egidijus Milešinas, president of the Lithuanian Education and Science Union, who contacted the news portal tv3.lt, assures that the problem of psychological pressure in Lithuanian schools is known. And she is not the only one.
“Every day, the Lithuanian Education and Science Union receives several complaints from teachers about working conditions. It is important to mention that the pandemic highlighted the problems that have accumulated over the years. Cases of psychological pressure and mobbing also occur.
From experience, I can say that psychological problems are more common. Teachers are under a lot of pressure due to constantly changing procedures and work rules, ”said E. Milešinas.
Vera Radiukevičienė, secretary-rapporteur for the Lithuanian Union of Education Workers, says that mobbing is not the main reason why teachers leave their jobs, although teachers also report such cases.
“We get complaints from teachers about bullying, but most of the time they don’t agree to talk about it in public. There is such a problem, but we wouldn’t say that it is the main reason teachers leave work.”
To the authorities – arrows of criticism
The president of the union did not spare the criticism of the politicians who govern Lithuania. According to him, more and more political forces coming to power promise to pay more attention to the education system and educators, but this is still just promises.
“If you asked each teacher, you would hear many different answers. However, all the daily problems could be summed up from the point of view of the society, the Seimas and the Government towards education. Before every election, we hear that when “we” come, we will solve the education problems in the first issue.
<...> However, this is already the case, the more you contribute to the good and the future of society and the community, the less you pay attention to and invest in yourself ”, explained the specialist.
He claims that it is broken promises that cause psychological problems for teachers:
“Teachers are more disappointed by the general approach to education, broken promises and the lack of a better future. It also causes psychological problems in education and encourages teachers to leave education. <...> Teachers who have been working for years have not seen a breakthrough. “
E. Milešinas warns that if no decisions are made, the problem of education will be almost the biggest problem in Lithuania at the end of the term of the ruling government.
“In the meeting with the Minister of Education, I made it clear that the deterioration of the situation in schools due to teachers will only deepen and that if next year’s budget does not foresee drastic increases in the salaries of educational personnel and all teachers, education will be a much bigger problem for this government than COVID-19 or the influx of migrants, “he said.
The ministry blames the pandemic
The Ministry of Education, Science and Sports explained to the news portal tv3.lt that the situation regarding the psychological tension of teachers is known. The biggest impact on this is believed to be the pandemic that is still ending.
“In these difficult and stressful times, both school leaders and teachers experience more stress than usual, anxiety both about work and about their health and that of their loved ones, which, of course, can worsen their overall psychological well-being. and lead them to consider ending their pedagogical careers and finishing them.
We know the current situation not only from specific questions from teachers, school leaders or parents, but also from discussions with union representatives, meetings in schools with their communities. Unfortunately, overcoming a pandemic takes time, mutual support, and often an individual approach to the situation. We believe that school communities have a strong connection and notice members who need help, ”the ministry said.
The situation of the lack of teachers was also commented.
“The country’s pedagogical community is shrinking. It must be recognized that there is not as rapid a change in the generation of teachers as would be necessary to ensure a smooth renewal of teachers. Although the situation is very different in different municipalities and localities, the projections Statistics suggest that there may be a nationwide teacher shortage in the near future.
We also note that there is no need for teachers in some subjects, and a shortage of others, such as math and science teachers, is beginning to be identified. This is especially true in schools in rural regions or areas, where a teacher is forced to work in several schools to gather a full workload ”.
The Ministry also shared the figures from the Employment Service. According to them, 2,000 are currently looking for work. teachers of the country:
“According to data provided by the Employment Service at the beginning of September, more than 2,000 teachers (including preschool teachers) are currently looking for work. There are 169 vacancies in the Employment Service.
The group of teachers of secondary and basic education was mostly registered as looking for work as a teacher of physical education, English, music language and art.
During the year, that is, starting in 2020. From August to August of this year, the number of jobseekers seeking work as a pre-school education teacher was the one that increased the most (+ 47%), while the number of people seeking work as a primary education teacher was the one that increased the most (+ 6%) ”.
A teacher committed suicide in the Biržai district
Loreta Žibelienė, director of the Biržai district school department, told tv3.lt that the school is considering possible causes of suicide. The teacher committed suicide a couple of weeks ago.
“When we heard that message, it was very unexpected. And now we cannot reconcile. We already had a psychologist, another will come on Wednesday, but we still cannot accept that.
The teacher was good, thorough, honest. We talked among ourselves that maybe that diligence and the desire to do everything very well, maybe that person got burned.
Still here is that quarantine, that uncertainty, we are a rural school and we do not know what the load will be next year. Even more so when we become another department of the city school. Everywhere such uncertainty is uncertainty about work, about the future. There is also distance learning. She lived together and became friends with everyone at school, ”said L. Žibelienė.
Read more about it here.
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