The Jamaica Teachers’ Association (JTA) is awaiting “with bated breath” the results of research now under way to determine whether workplace-related stress is responsible for a concerning number of sudden deaths and illnesses among educators.

The study, which was commissioned last year, “was borne out of the fact that several teachers, including administrators, just fell dead”, then JTA President Leighton Johnson told the Jamaica Observer last March.

At that time Johnson said while the JTA did not have the full number of educators who had passed over the years, it was instructive that between January and March 2024 year at least 10 active teachers had died.

Johnson’s observations linked 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.

Speaking with the Observer on Thursday, current JTA President Dr Mark Smith said the association will depend on the study to help it interpret what it has been observing and also assist it in crafting measures to help educators.

“I am very cautious as a researcher that we don’t jump to establish causation without the empirical data to support but we have seen incidents of members having lifestyle-related illnesses and so, as an association, we are taking active steps to focus several of our activities around healthy lifestyle, forums aimed at helping our membership gain the requisite knowledge and understanding of what can be done to mitigate against developing some of these lifestyle-related illnesses,” said Smith who is also principal of the Munro College in St Elizabeth.

He acknowledged that among the diseases rearing its head among the teaching cohort has been the dreaded cancer.

“One concern is that we have seen during discussions, and this is anecdotal, is about incidents of cancer and, of course, the research will be looking into this. We do know, for instance, that high cortisol levels, which is a stress hormone, is linked with cancer and the question is, is that part of what we are seeing,” the JTA president said.

“Again, not to rush to establish a link or causation without having the data to support it, but what is clear is that we have to be a lot more proactive in how we live our lives and manage the stressful environments within which we work,” added Smith.

According to Smith, stakeholders will have to assess, for instance, the value of “reducing the number of students [per classroom]”.

“We find that teachers with large class sizes often are under a lot of stress, teachers in schools that have a high incidence of violence or aggression, or a high degree of maladaptive behaviours being displayed by children, those teachers oftentimes will take days to try and recover from the high degree of stress. Whether it’s blood pressure issues that they may have, or other stress-related conditions related to the job.

“Again, it’s about being able to provide support; as an association we have also put in place counselling support programmes that is accessed by all our teachers and their immediate family members in order to assist them with any form of psychosocial assistance that may be required,” Smith told the Observer.

He added, “We are cognizant of the work environment and we continue to provide that kind of support. We await, with bated breath, the results of that research so that we will at least have data upon which to discuss strategies and mechanisms to reduce the stress that our teachers face in the workplace.

“They have their model that they are looking at to ensure that they have a large enough sample that is representative of the entire population of teachers so you can extrapolate with a high degree of accuracy based on the sample size.”

According to Smith, “What is clear is that we would have to look at providing not just a snapshot but going through enough data that we can provide an understanding of the nuances of the participants in the study. The mandate they were given is that it should be ready for presentation at our annual conference in August”.

— Alicia Dunkley-Willis