[ad_1]
The inability to bear the stress subsides
Although the school year is not over in many schools, their leaders are already turning their heads, who will replace outgoing teachers starting in September. This year, a record number of teachers in Panevėžys decided to say goodbye to school and exchange the stress of distance learning for a more peaceful pension.
For many of them, uncertainty about the future has become the cornerstone of self-determination. After all, the country’s government, after children must return to school at any cost in September, is now preparing for hybrid education. At the same time, teachers will be required to teach both children in the classroom and students who remain in front of computers at home. However, no additional funding has been provided to educators for this type of theft.
Aušra Gabrėnienė, specialist from the Department of Education of the municipality of Panev Educaciónžys, stated that more than three dozen teachers wanted to use the program to optimize the number of pedagogical staff this year. This program allows teachers to retire exclusively with severance pay of up to 6 average salaries, depending on their length of service. Six kindergarten teachers and 29 general school teachers decided to take advantage of this opportunity.
“Compared to last year, the number of exits is definitely higher. Perhaps this can be attributed to the quarantine. The challenges of distance learning have exhausted teachers. In addition, the uncertain future of how it will work in September also makes their own adjustments in decision-making ”, considers A. Gabrėnienė.
Record year
Although educational institutions were looking for new teachers each year before the new school year, this year the numbers are staggering. According to June data, these Panevėžys institutions lack a total of 65 teachers. At the same time, last year, half of the teachers were sought – three dozen. According to A. Gabrėnienė, like every year, most, even nine, will need preschool teachers.
Up to six schools are looking for math teachers and eleven music and arts education teacher openings are being offered. The educational institutions of Panevėžys also expect three special pedagogues, as well as sports coaches and six non-formal education teachers. There is also a great shortage of psychologists. Other subjects: chemistry, physics, geography, information.
technology – looking for one teacher at a time.
“The optimization program does not include specialists in student support, non-formal education teachers. We know that even some of them plan to drop out of school this year, but cannot expect monetary compensation. There is a shortage of teachers not only because of their natural change, but also because of the number of sets of classes or groups that are being reformulated or created, ”said the specialist.
It attracts and wets
According to A. Gabrėnienė, the average age of teachers in Panevėžys reaches 55 years. It is estimated that next year there will be 7,000 teachers of retirement age throughout Lithuania. Panevėžys does not stand out in this context. There are now 86 retired teachers in the city’s schools. Anticipating the challenges ahead, the municipality of Panevėžys has attracted young teachers with various incentives for many years, from partial funding of studies to public housing. According to the specialist, this program has really paid off. Most of the applicants are prospective preschool teachers. However, it will take them some time to complete their studies and fill in all the gaps.
“The teacher shortage can become a national challenge in Lithuania. We are already preparing for that,” said A. Gabrėnienė.
Eugenijus Kuchalskis, deputy director of the Department of Education of the municipality of Panevėžys, said that in the next meeting of the City Council it will be proposed to continue this program of attracting young teachers until 2023. Each year, 10 thousand LTL are allocated from the city budget. However, it is not excluded that this amount may be increased.
“The municipality is ready to uncover more funding, if only it would help supplement the dwindling ranks of teachers. This is not just a problem for Panevėžys, but for the entire country. And without the pandemic, it was seen to get worse as it increased. the average age of teachers. And new professionals are arriving one after another. If we do not take action, this problem will only increase every September, “says E. Kuchalskis.
Search – all summer
Two dozen teachers of various specialties are also currently being sought in the Panevėžys district. Diana Žukauskienė, a specialist from the Department of Education, Culture and Sports of the district municipality, stated that in some schools there will be no change of teachers, but in some it is already known that there will even be a lack of several teachers. For example, starting in September, the Velžis gymnasium will require teachers for primary education, mathematics, Lithuanian language, biology and French. Smilgiai Gymnasium: teachers of geography, economics, history, chemistry and psychologist. Not all educational institutions can offer a full workload.
“The situation is similar every year, but during the summer, school leaders somehow manage to fill the missing staff positions. At least until now,” said D. Žukauskienė.
Fear of autumn
Raimondas Dambrauskas, director of the Juozas Balčikonis Gymnasium, is not surprised by these statistics of outgoing teachers. According to him, there is a natural change of workers, and the quarantine and uncertainty about the future have accelerated it.
“It just came to our knowledge then. The ministry talks about hybrid classes, where the teacher will have to work both in contact with the class and at the same time with the students staying at home. That uncertainty about the future may have led to the decision to leave school. Those who are simply tired leave “, considers R. Dambrauskas.
According to the gym director, teachers do not get rid of teleworking. Such training has its advantages and disadvantages. On the one hand, children who lack this form lack social communication and the issue of honesty remains unresolved. On the other hand, many schools have already legitimized it by up to 30 percent. Lessons can be organized remotely – when kids are homeschooled, when a flu epidemic breaks out, or extreme cold hits. However, teaching both distance and distance lessons at the same time is already a high pilot for teachers.
“I am glad that, at least in our gym, there is still no tragic situation; only one teacher decided to retire. The remaining five people, who have already reached retirement age, agreed to work even with smaller loads, but continue to work. If two math teachers decide to leave at the same time, it will be a disaster, “admits the director.
Vogs of colleagues
According to R. Dambrauskas, sooner or later the problem of the shortage of teachers will persist, especially the lack of teachers of mathematics and natural sciences. After several years, the students have not opted for pedagogical studies in these subjects. The director does not hide that in this case there is only one thing left: to attract teachers from other places.
“I will steal from other gyms, but what remains? Because the chances of attracting teachers from other districts are very low. And it is unlikely that an educator coming from primary or secondary school will be able to adequately prepare graduates for exams. But again, when students are more motivated and teachers have to push themselves. We had cases where a teacher decided to leave school because of too much responsibility, when children need to be ready for exams in four years, “said R. Dambrauskas.
However, according to him, such temptations are not the way out. The situation is turning tragic all over Lithuania, but so far the educational community does not see any change in that direction.
“Teachers will be able to increase their value by choosing the schools in which they want to work, but it is a pity that the salary does not increase. But maybe when there is no one left to teach, the teaching profession will become really prestigious ”, considers R. Dambrauskas.
The forecasts are black
The Prime Minister speaks of hybrid training as normal and acceptable. It is a shame for the Lithuanian students and their parents. They will feel the consequences of such an approach and decisions in a few years, when it will be too late. Sometimes it is even thought that everything possible is being done to maintain only private schools in Lithuania.
It is clear from the Ministry’s response that, in principle, there are no preparations for the new school year. If it can, the ministry will establish only a few classes in schools (not even all) for hybrid teaching with government funding.
The letter from the ministry states that for a teacher there is little difference between working solely by contact in the classroom or by contact and doing distance learning at home for students at the same time. We do not agree with this and demand that teachers be paid more for hybrid teaching. It is a pity that the parents of the pupils do not delve too deeply into the teaching process and do not have to fight for the deprivation of their children of a proper education.
The situation this school year has clearly demonstrated that the entire organization of the educational process rests on the shoulders of the teachers. At the request of the mayors, the government allowed the municipalities to freely organize the return to school of students from fifth to eleventh grade. The municipalities did not take the initiative and entrusted it to the schools, and these, in turn, threw everything on the shoulders of the teachers.
With the acceleration of vaccination and the quantities of new vaccines ordered by the European Commission, it is clear that a new pandemic is in the fall. As long as our heads of state are silent on this, we are concerned that we will have a situation in the fall where the education system is not ready again.
Unable to bear such burdens, teachers will voluntarily withdraw from the education system. Based on the number of inquiries, around 1,000 teachers will leave the education system in Lithuania this year.
[ad_2]
