Reports says that teachers are upset while taking long hours of classes with face masks.
A new survey by the Teachers’ Union of Ireland (TUI) found that in the wake of the Covid outbreak, a majority of teachers expressed concern about their own health, with 92 per cent of teachers commenting that wearing a mask makes teaching work more difficult.
The survey amongst 1,551 members of the union was conducted between September 25 and October 5.
The survey found that 39 percent of the 84 percent of teachers involved in the grading process of the Living Certificate experienced extreme stress.
A quarter of teachers (23%) said they had a health problem. Thirty-one percent said they had a family member with health problems, and 11 percent said they had people over the age of 70 at home.
More than half of teachers (52%) do not believe that most students have the ICT facilities needed to participate in online learning.
Thirty-three percent of teachers complain that they do not have access to good broadband to support online learning.
Ninety-six percent of teachers said rapid tests should be performed on students, teachers and other school staff in the face of the Covid threat.
At the same time, about half (49.81%) said that adequate sanitation was being put in place in schools, while 50.19% said otherwise.
Ninety-five percent said their workload had increased since Covid and that work was more difficult than the previous year.
The survey found that 30 per cent of teachers in the Covid background were thinking of quitting their jobs or retiring early.
Union President Martin Marjoram said the survey found that schools across the country had seen a significant decline in ICT facilities since the schools closed in March.
He added that these shortcomings need to be addressed urgently to ensure that the benefits of online education are effectively extended to students from disadvantaged sections of society.