Teacher's burnout |
"It has been three years since I last took a single day off from the university. Now, when I finally leave campus, I feel an overwhelming urge to hit my car," says Tanveer Qasim, a professor at a private-sector university in Lahore. His words stopped me mid-conversation. I looked at him in disbelief, struggling to reconcile what I was hearing with who he was. Just two years ago, the same university had honoured him with its Best Teacher's Award. And yet, here he was — exhausted, drained and emotionally spent. Was this what burnout looked like?
Tanveer's story is not an exception. It is increasingly the norm.
Across the world, researchers have consistently identified teaching as one of the most stressful professions in the human service sector. The job demands far more than subject knowledge or classroom presence, with expectations to teach, mentor, counsel, assess, manage administrative tasks, meet institutional targets and remain emotionally available — all at once. Over time, this relentless pressure takes a........