Teachers air grievances in latest survey

Teachers' satisfaction index (On a scale of 1 to 10; 1=dissatisfied, 10=satisfied) * Students' attitude towards learning: 5.52 * Quality of instruction: 7.15 * Parents' concern about their children's education: 5.23 * Interaction between parents and teachers: 6.08 * School facilities: 5.87 * Bureaucracy: 5.52 * Payment: 6.73 * Personal life: 7.38 * Professional status: 5.62 * Educational reform: 4.68 Source: taipei times

Guidelines for educational reform, parental concerns about education, bureaucracy at schools and the lax learning attitudes of students frustrate teachers the most, according to a survey by the National Teachers' Association (全國教師會).

As Teachers' Day approaches, the association yesterday released a report conducted in May and June this year of 1,485 teachers nationwide, at all levels, to get an impression of what concerns teachers most.

The report shows teachers are unhappy with changing educational policies, parents' nonchalance toward education, bureaucratic school administrations and students' poor learning attitudes, said Wu Chung-tai (吳忠泰), the association's deputy secretary general, at a press conference yesterday.

Yang I-feng (楊益風), director of the group's diplomatic department, said the report showed teachers were dissatisfied with educational reform policies.

"Teachers find themselves stranded when they often have to come up with new instructing methods to cope with capricious educational policies. There has been a pressing call among educators, requesting that authorities forge a set of clear policies for teachers to follow," he said.

"Meanwhile, teachers feel dispirited by the indifferent attitude parents hold toward children's school training, as parents tend to regard education as the responsibility of teachers."

Parents should be aware that devotion from teachers and parents is equally significant for a child's development, Yang said. No complete education is possible when the gaps between families and schools are not bridged, he added.

"Also, teachers are discouraged by the sloppy learning of students," Yang said. "Most teachers find their influence upon students waning because students nowadays are becoming more rebellious and self-centered, which contributes to an attitude whereby they don't pay attention to the teacher."

Another aspect that upsets teachers is bureaucracy at schools, which has crippled the enforcement of educational policies, Yang said.

The most striking finding however was that high school teachers are unhappier than their colleagues in elementary schools and colleges.

Out of the 10 categories covered in the questionnaire, high school teachers were slightly more satisfied than elementary school teachers in terms of salary. But, in regard to social respect, professional status, instructional facilities, interaction between teachers and parents and the quality of personal life, high school teachers were the most dissatisfied group.

Yang said the primary cause of displeasure among junior high school teachers was the pressure to get their students into senior high school.

Minister of Education Ovid Tzeng (曾志朗) said the survey was significant and a good opportunity for teachers to voice their opinions, though he had reservations about the teachers' comments on educational policies.

"The satisfaction index for teachers is not equivalent to the achievement index of educational policies," he said.