Burnt-out teachers, stressed students: how the war affected schools

54% of teachers are in a state of professional burnout, and 75% of schoolchildren show signs of stress. These are the results of a sociological survey among Ukrainian teachers, school principals and their deputies, conducted by the educational foundation GoGlobal.

Education during the war

A total of 261 respondents took part in the survey. Educators noted that the full-scale war has had a significant impact on today’s schoolchildren. Children show anxiety and anxiety, lack of motivation to learn, apathy and indifference, as well as confusion and inattention. Among other important manifestations: children have quickly matured in the current environment, becoming serious and responsible.

Nevertheless, students who were forced to move to safer regions and continue their education there adapt quickly in 88% of cases.

“We wanted to understand the essence of the deep moods of students and teachers, their needs, and to have a real picture of the war. And, of course, after that, to provide educators with effective mechanisms and tools to support them and  students. The study revealed many unspoken problems. First of all, in our opinion, the level of psychological stability of teachers and low motivation of children to learn require urgent attention,” –  says GoGlobal director Tetiana Kovryha.

54% of teachers are in a state of professional burnout, 75% of students have stress symptoms

Stress has not escaped educators themselves. 80% of respondents report an increase in workload, and 54% have experienced professional burnout. Today, 46% of teachers recognize that psychological support is one of the main needs of the educational institution where they work. Among others: material, technical and methodological support. After all, in , 41% of schools have a fully or mostly online learning process. At the same time, 71% of teachers complain about the lack of Internet access during the educational process.

“I hope that the results of this study will become the basis for qualitative changes and reforms in education. For our part, we are doing everything in our power to introduce quality educational changes right now: we are conducting psycho-emotional support trainings for teachers, training for psychologists, camps for children that allow them to distract themselves and  master soft skills and develop creativity. We encourage young people to take an active public position.  Now it may seem that education is not the time, that educational issues can be postponed.  We believe that we cannot postpone them, so we are now scaling up our projects to reach as many educators as possible. We are convinced that education is our tomorrow, just as the Armed Forces are our today,” – says Tetiana Kovryha .

Photo: Freepik