MOUNTING concern about the number of educators dying suddenly has prompted Jamaica Teachers’ Association (JTA) to commission a study to determine whether there is “a correlation between the stress levels to educators and their mental and physical state of being”.

The study, which was commissioned at the start of this calendar year, “was borne out of the fact that several teachers, including administrators, just fell dead”, JTA President Leighton Johnson told the Jamaica Observer in a recent interview.

“Since the start of this year there have been several teachers who have passed; there are some who have passed suddenly. Now, in terms of a correlation between the stress levels and the teachers dying, that is a research that is ongoing, that is a situation we continue to monitor and watch,” Johnson said.

The JTA president said while he did not have, at the time of the interview, the full number of educators who have passed over the years, it was instructive that since January this year at least 10 active teachers have died.

He said the study will begin “in short order” noting, “it is something the JTA prides itself on”.

“We are committed to doing this because as an association we want to ensure we are in a position to make decisions, make recommendations for whatever is needed for our members to have a better standard of living, a better quality of life,” the JTA president stated.

Johnson was responding to Observer queries following comments made by outgoing principal of Jonathan Grant High School in St Catherine, Dr O’Neil Ankle.

Speaking in the wake of the passing of the school’s Vice-Principal Rosella Shepherd-Boxter late last month, Dr Ankle said, “Several young teachers under the age of 40 have died suddenly in recent years. You hear that they have gone to the hospital and then two days later, they are dead. I don’t know what is causing it. Maybe it is the stress, no one knows. The media has not been reporting it consistently but in the space I occupy, a lot of cases keep popping up.”

Shepherd-Boxter, who had been battling cancer, had taken a leave of absence in December 2023 but did not live to return to work.

Johnson’s observations hark back to claims made in 2020 by then JTA President Owen Speid who, in stating that fewer educators were dying after schools shuttered in early March that year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, said it might be an indication that the stress levels of the classroom had been adversely impacting the health of teachers.

“I must bring to the attention of Jamaica that before COVID-19 we at the association had to attend two or three, or sometimes up to five, funerals each week. That is when the teachers were in the classroom. Since COVID-19 and the schools are shuttered, teachers are at home. And even though they are having challenges dealing with the emergency virtual teaching what we are finding is that since March 13, because they are out of the stressful classrooms, the hot classrooms, what we are finding is that we only have had about two or three deaths since March 13, 2020,” Speid had told a Rotary Club of St Andrew meeting at the time.

“That might be some sort of research we need to embark on to see if, in truth and in fact, the stress levels in our schools are causing deleterious impact on our educators,” Speid said.

In the recent Observer interview Johnson said those concerns were not unfounded.

“The fact is that teaching is a stressful job. What teachers do on a daily basis to ensure that, as best as possible, students get the best education within our context, requires a lot. Teaching is a profession that requires our teachers to take the work home in many regards, just to ensure that for the next day they are adequately prepared to expose students to the content that is required to prepare them to be global citizens, and have that competitive edge, and for them to be prepared for exams,” he pointed out.

“They have to write lesson plans, they have to mark scripts, they have to grade, they have to prepare unit plans, they have to do table marking and, of course, naturally having in excess of 20 students seated before you — 20 individuals who demand your attention — is high stress,” he added.

“When you look at that as well as the teachers’ personal life — their children, their families, to take care of their children, their children perhaps wanting equal or more attention — it gives the teacher very little time or room for relaxation for them to be in a position to really give of themselves the best when they return to school the next day. There is not much time for them to rejuvenate to get themselves sharp again. They are constantly in the mill, they are constantly on the grind, and they are constantly on the run,” he argued.

Johnson said the JTA has taken note in recent times of teachers developing underlying chronic illnesses and has been insistent that they take care of themselves.

“We will continue to encourage our members to stop if you are not feeling well, if you have that niggling pain that is perhaps not debilitating. We still say, ‘Stop and get it checked out,’ because what we find in many instances is that those are the signs that many of our members ignore which lead to chronic lifestyle diseases and situations that cause their death,” he told the Observer.

In the meantime he said more should be done to allow educators to access health care.

“The Sagicor Health Plan, from the JTA’s perspective, we feel that this plan must be increased to accommodate our teachers doing the annual executive profile, the annual check-up that they need. Many teachers suffer from different eye problems because of long screen hours, late nights, and poor lighting. In terms of writing lesson plans, they come down with some kind of eye issues and the health cards in many instances are not sufficient to get our teachers to the ophthalmologist, to get them diagnosed and properly fitted with the right glasses. Once that happens, the card is exhausted and there is not much left for any other tests or prescriptions,” the JTA president argued.

“This is why, from the JTA’s perspective, we constantly agitate with the Government to ensure that, as best as possible, that these benefits are improved so that our teachers can enjoy a better quality of life and a better standard of living,” Johnson said.