Around 27 percent of teachers in Taipei suffer from depression and many want to retire early because of the pressure from their jobs, a survey released yesterday shows.
The survey was conducted by the Taipei Teachers' Association between March and May.
Results of the survey were make public at a news conference called by KMT Taipei City Councilor Lee Yen-hsiu (李彥秀).
Yang Yi-feng (楊益風), director of the teachers' association, said that because of the intense pressure teachers face, many of them have requested early retirement.
In fact, many of these teachers are waiting for replacements which can allow them to retire. Yang said that the situation of teachers waiting to be able to retire is a first in his experience.
Taipei City Councilor Hsu Yen-kuo (許淵國) said that because the country is undergoing reform of its education system, many teachers feel that education policy has no clear direction.
Hsu says that this is one factor which makes teachers uneasy.
Councilor Lee said that he suspected that the mounting pressure may be behind the rising clashes between teachers and students on school campuses, rising from two cases in 1999 to six cases in 2000.
Lee said that this is a serious issue and the Taipei Bureau of Education should not continue to ignore the psychological health of teachers.
Lee went on to say that if the bureau does not address the issue, the quality of teaching may suffer.
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