Bulgarian Teachers Tired and Stressed - Poll

Bulgarian teachers are run down and stressed, working average 48 hours per week despite the legal 40 working hours, a national survey of the Education syndicate showed.

The survey of the syndicate with Podkrepa Labor Confederation revealed alarming tendencies regarding the work of Bulgarian teachers.

Class teaching takes 21 hours per week, 15 more hours are needed for self-preparation. Extracurricular activities take up 4 hours every week, while administrative work not directly related to teaching requires additional 8 hours.

Some 55% of teachers have been kept at school or kindergarten by the headmaster's request without being assigned any work.

Bulgaria's teachers, 90% of whom are female, manage to spare just 5 hours weekly to spend with their families, and 2 hours for any leisure activities.

The survey was held among 6,950 teachers in more than 30 Bulgarian cities. The average age of the polled is 55 years, the highest percentage of them are high school teachers – 32.5%.

The Education Syndicate warned that while teachers are overtired by headmasters, inspectorates and the Ministry of Education, the quality of teaching is deteriorating. The major cause of stress among the pedagogues are the administrative activities which take up time needed for preparation of lessons and teaching.

The syndicate intends to inform the Ministry of Education of the national survey results and to demand additional payment for administrative activities, as well as compensatory mechanisms for reducing work load of teachers, all stipulated in the new Education act and the Collective Bargaining Agreement.

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