Several municipal advisers Tuesday presented a proposal to the Shanghai government, calling on education authorities to work with schools to set up psychology clinics for stressed-out teachers.

They also said the city should offer periodical mental-health exams for teachers and adjust its examination-based education system to relieve pressure on educators.

"It is not only an issue of teachers themselves, but of the country's next generations," said Dong Bo, a professor at East China Normal University.

Dong, along with about 10 colleagues, presented their proposal during the ongoing annual meeting of the Shanghai People's Political Consultative Conference.

The proposal noted that a recent local survey found that more than 12 percent of the city's primary and middle school teachers have noticeable "psychological problems."

Teachers with such problems are often depressed, lack self-control and self-confidence, and are unwilling to communicate with people, Dong said.

"The reasons are obvious," he explained. "Many teachers have to work for more than eight hours a day while not receiving extra payment."

Also, many of them, particularly middle school teachers, face high expectations from their school leaders, students and their parents who are always looking forward to satisfactory examination results.

Huang Shanming, principal of Shanghai Jiguang Junior Middle School, acknowledged that the pressure on teachers is mounting as they have to very quickly get familiar with new textbooks while helping students pass examinations.

"For many people, the only yardstick for a teacher is whether or not he or she is capable of helping students pass examinations," he said. "However, it's very difficult for a teacher to guarantee that."

Qu Jun, a deputy director of the Shanghai Education Commission, commented on the proposal: "We will conduct more feasibility studies into setting up psychological clinics for teachers."

"Meanwhile, teachers themselves should learn to adjust their psychology because they received such training in college."

(eastday.com January 14, 2004)