Bilingual Editorial: Better teaching environment more crucial than commendation
雙語社評：教師春風化雨應嘉許 改善教學環境更實惠
文章日期：2018年10月12日
雙語社評齊齊聽
[英語 (足本收聽)] Presented by Mr NG, Raymond Wai-man, Lecturer of Hong Kong Community College, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
[普通話 (足本收聽)] Presented by Mr CHOW, Raymond Wen-chun, Lecturer of Hong Kong Community College, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
MORE than one thousand teachers have been commended at the annual Teachers' Day Ceremony. Teachers all deserve commendation for their painstaking efforts to educate the young in the way spring breezes and rain nurture life. However, because of inadequate support from the government, many teachers have been rendered exhausted both physically and mentally. How can teachers take good care of students if they are under significant mental stress themselves? Hong Kong's education system is no longer what it is supposed to be. With society emphasising "winning at the starting line", many care only about boosting students' academic performance while overlooking the cultivation of virtue and good character. Hong Kong students generally tend to be self-centred and weak in facing up to adversity. Youth suicide has become a problem of widespread public concern. But in recent years, more and more schools have advocated changes to such a mindset through positive education and happy learning. The government must strengthen its support accordingly and pour in more resources to address the problem with the right remedy and to avoid aggravating the burden on teachers.
The incumbent government has fulfilled the pledge to increase recurrent funding for education by 3.4 billion dollars after taking office. Although the measure has, to a certain extent, helped improve the teaching environment, it has merely made up for the shortfall in educational funding in the previous years. In the policy address to be delivered next month, the government should make good use of the foundations laid over the past year to strengthen its support for the teaching profession in terms of both policies and resources.
Surveys released at the start of the new school year have shown that many teachers as well as pupils are under huge stress. Over 80% of teachers interviewed rated their work stress as very huge or extremely huge. Some of them worked for more than 60 hours a week. Almost 30% showed symptoms of moderate or serious depression. Some teachers had even contemplated self-harm. As for students, nearly half of them had developed signs of depression to various degrees. About 25% of the students had briefly or seriously thought about suicide. Many teachers mentioned the heavy workload of marking a large volume of student assignments and huge stress from teaching. Overwhelmed further by miscellaneous administrative work and excessive pressure from "achievement-oriented" school authorities, they were left exhausted both physically and mentally.
About 90 school pupils have committed suicide since September 2015. Just this year, at least 14 have taken their own lives. There can be an array of reasons behind student suicides, but many cases involved academic pressure. What worries people further is that the function of the school as a shield against youth suicide seems to have diminished. Students who cannot bear the stress from parents and the school become weary of studying and even develop suicidal thoughts. Teachers overwhelmed by daily work stress have no more energy to care about students. Only if the authorities substantially improve the teaching environment can the way out be found.
The authorities should take the initiative to pour in resources for helping schools who want to change by promoting happy learning and positive education. At the same time, the authorities must by all means reduce the heavy burden on teachers to give them the time to care about students' growth, build good relations with students, and make good use of their expertise in teaching. In addition to implementing small class teaching and the "one school social worker for each school" policy, the government should also strengthen its support for teachers by allocating extra funding to improve class-teacher ratios, enable schools to offer more permanent teaching positions and specialised positions for administrative staff. This can alleviate the daily work stress of teachers and relieve them substantially from unnecessary administrative work. The government should also provide emotional support services for teachers.
教師春風化雨應嘉許 改善教學環境更實惠
一年一度敬師日頒獎禮，全港逾千教育工作者得到表揚。老師付出大量時間心力春風化雨，值得嘉許，然而政府支援不足，不少教師身心俱疲，連自己也備受精神壓力困擾，又豈能好好關顧學生。本港教育制度異化，社會氛圍強調「贏在起跑線」，只重催谷成績，忽略德育和性格培養，學童普遍較為自我，抗逆能力較弱，自殺問題備受關注。近年愈來愈多學校提倡正向教育快樂學習，有助改變社會風氣，政府必須加強支援配合，對症下藥投入更多資源，避免教師百上加斤。
現屆政府上任後，落實增加34億元教育經常撥款，對於改善教學環境，有一定幫助，然而這很大程度只是「追落後」，彌補之前數年教育撥款不足。施政報告下月出爐，政府應當善用過去一年奠下的基礎，從政策和資源層面加強支援教育事業。
新學年伊始，調查顯示很多師生都承受巨大壓力，逾八成教師感到頗大或極大工作壓力，部分人每周工作超過60小時，近三成教師出現中度和嚴重抑鬱，甚至有過自殘念頭；學生則有近半出現不同程度抑鬱症狀，兩成半曾有輕度至嚴重自殺念頭。不少教師表示需要批改大量功課，教學壓力沉重，行政工作繁多以至校方「成就導向」過度逼迫，更令他們身心俱疲。
2015年9月至今，全港約有90名學童自殺，單在今年就最少有14名學生輕生。學生自殺原因不一而足，惟當中不少均涉及學業壓力，更令人憂慮的是，學校作為預防青少年自殺屏障的作用，似有減弱之勢。學生難以承受來自家長和學校壓力，出現厭學情緒甚至輕生念頭，教師則被日常工作逼得透不過氣，沒有餘力關心學生。只有切實改善教學環境，始能帶來出路。
當局應積極投入資源，協助有心求變的學校推動快樂學習和正向教育，同時設法減輕教師沉重擔子，令他們有更多時間關心學生成長，建立良好師生關係，發揮教育專業所長。除了落實小班教學和一校一社工，政府還應加強支援教師，包括增撥資源改善班級與教師比例，讓校方增聘更多常額教師和其他專職行政人員，減輕教師日常工作壓力，免去不必要的行政工作，並為教師提供情緒支援服務。
明報社評2018.09.12
