What do school teachers in the UAE need the most? Respect? Fair compensation? Good working environment? Fewer disruptive students?

In all likelihood, yes. But interviews with nearly 20 teachers picked randomly from schools here show that the one thing they need the most is freedom from the shackles of clerical work.

Every teacher we spoke to said they are so saddled with needless paperwork that they are rarely left with any time or energy to focus on their core job — of educating children.

By now you’d be wondering, ‘Why do teachers need more time? Aren’t they home by 2pm every day? Don’t they enjoy long summer and winter breaks?’ The truth is not so simple.

The fact is, teachers say they are stretched to their limits.

No matter how hard they try, they are unable to accomplish what they are typically required to do in the average school day. What they can’t finish in the classroom, they said, they take home, staying awake into the wee hours to complete the tasks and often working even during weekends and holidays to meet unrealistic deadlines.

An endless ‘to-do’ list
Their task list, they said, is seemingly endless.

Besides preparing detailed lesson plans and grading students on dozens of parameters, teachers are now also required to communicate with parents through phone and email, photocopy and scan documents, analyse examination results, maintain and update records, evaluate progress of students, take verbatim notes at staff meetings and fill out elaborate Self-Assessment Forms (SEFs).

Unable to cope with the rigours of their job, many said they quit, thus becoming another statistic in the country’s burgeoning teacher turnover rate — estimated to be 60 per cent annually at some Dubai schools.

Here are some of the concerns shared by the teachers:
1. “We are drowning in a sea of paperwork”

“For most part of the day, I prepare spreadsheets of meaningless data. The focus is more on completing paperwork for accountability and compliance and less about teaching. I didn’t sign up for this.”

- Grade V English teacher at an Indian curriculum school

2. ‘I feel drained’

Non-teaching assignments have pushed this teacher to a breaking point. “I sit in front of my computer screen at home for anything between four to five hours, writing lesson plans, which I know will eventually crumble as there’s no way I can implement them in the small window I get for teaching. I feel drained. I can’t take this toxic routine anymore. It’s taking a toll on my mental and physical health,” she said.

(Many teachers blamed WhatsApp for adding to their woes. “We are expected to respond or act on messages sent by our line managers at odd hours and even during weekends,” said a teacher.)

3. ‘Teaching is at the bottom of the list’

“I love teaching but now, that part of my job has been relegated to the bottom of my priority list. I don’t know who this relentless paperwork is benefitting because it’s certainly not the students. Whether it’s a hands-on activity or a field trip, we are required to produce evidence of pretty much everything we do. This means shooting videos and clicking pictures as proof. If that’s not daunting enough, we have to prepare various monthly graphs and charts for each student.”

4. ‘I am not a data entry operator’

This maths teacher often feels as if complying with requirements is now her primary objective. “I have to remind myself that I am a teacher not a data entry operator. It’s about time we went back to the basics and made teaching the single-most important agenda of teachers,” she said.

- Maths teacher at Indian curriculum school in Dubai

5. Six pictures, 25 students = 150 photographs a month

The picture is no less bleak at a British curriculum school in Dubai. Here, teachers are required to click six photographs of each student using their cellphones, and create a photo collage to be uploaded on the school portal every month. “It’s not as easy as it seems,” said a teacher.

“Since the photographs have to show kids engaged in activities, we have to wait endlessly to get that perfect shot. It’s a test of patience as small children have a very short attention span,” she said.

“If you have 25 students in a class, that’s a minimum of 150 photographs monthly,” she rued.

- Teacher at a British curriculum school in Dubai

6. “I experience crippling anxiety’

This harried teacher describes her work as borderline labour. “I am doing the work of three people and the worst part is that it’s all unproductive. I don’t know how long I can manage like this. I wanted to be a teacher since I was 16, but now I feel a crippling anxiety as I board the school bus at 6.30am.”

- Assistant teacher at a prestigious Dubai school

7. ‘Our job is to teach’

“Schools should hire clerks to do the paperwork. Our job is to teach, not squander time filing forms,” reasoned a teacher who claims to have never had a proper break for months.

“In teacher-speak, holidays mean a break from classroom and time to catch up on the pending work at home,” said a science teacher in a Dubai school.

At another school, class teachers said they have to call six parents daily and update them on the progress of their wards.

“Why should I use my phone credit for this?” she asked.

SOURCE : GULFNEWS