A new study has shone a dismal spotlight on some of the serious problems affecting education in Portugal – a sector ravaged by industrial action. More than three quarters of the country’s teachers have been found ‘showing signs of emotional exhaustion’: 20.6% showing “worrying signs”, 15.6% “critical signs” and 11.6% “pronounced emotional exhaustion”.
The study on Conditions of Life and Work in Education in Portugal reveals that around 22,000 teachers accept that they are taking too much medication – while 9,000 admit to consuming drugs or alcohol to excess.
Compiled by the Faculty of Social and Human Sciences at the New University of Lisbon (UNL), the study says teachers use substances as a form of ‘doping’ – to get through the demands placed on them.
And it’s not just teachers in the State system. The study, which spoke to over 18,400 teachers, interviewed a small percentage (10%) of staff members in private schools – but these appeared to suffer much less from the problems of emotional exhaustion.
The inquiry also alluded to a survey released last year that showed Portugal’s teachers to be among the “oldest” in the 36 OECD countries – with 61 times more teachers over the age of 50 than below the age of 30.
Says the study, this explains the problems of emotional exhaustion: teachers are simply getting too old – but up till now, they have been unable to take early retirement without losing a large chunk of their pensions.
Next year’s State Budget is addressing the situation of early retirement… to a point: but no-one will be able to take it up (at the age of 63) unless he or she can show 40 years of contributions (in other words, unless they have been working as a salaried tax-paying teacher for 40 years).
The study stresses that of the many thousands of teaching professionals quizzed, “almost half did not feel fulfilled in the functions they were performing”.
As for the areas where dissatisfaction is highest, these appear to be the north and centre of the country – areas with some of the oldest teachers – as well as the south. Lisbon and the islands (Azores and Madeira) recorded lower levels of emotional exhaustion.
And finally, qualifications appear to reflect teachers’ sadness: those with Masters Degrees are more buoyant than colleagues “just with degrees”, says the study, adding that it is usually the younger teachers who have Masters’.
