International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS) | Volume VI, Issue VII, July 2022 | ISSN 2454–6186
The Psychological Status of Government School Teachers in Gampaha District During Covid- 19
Weerasinghe, S.P.S.P., Dr. Herath, D.C.K., Gunarathne, K.A.T.N.T., Chandrasiri, D.B.P.S., Premasara, J.M., Jayaweera, K.K.T, Chandrarathna, L.R., Priyankara, M.G.A.
Institute of Human Resource Advancement, University of Colombo, Colombo, Sri Lanka
Abstract: This research is an attempt to study the psychological status of government school teachers in the Gampaha district during the COVID- 19 pandemic. It mainly focuses on school teachers in the Gampaha district who had to transform their teaching style due to online teaching necessities. There is much research on COVID-19 and depression related to the general public, school students, and undergraduates. Yet, there is a visible vacuum in empirical data regarding the depression level of school teachers, which is intended to be bridged through this study. It followed the quantitative approach and gathered data from the government teachers by conducting an online questionnaire survey. The results indicated that among the selected sample, the majority of them appeared to be mildly and moderately depressed, while 27.2% were severely depressed. As the psychological condition is a mandatory requirement for every individual to have a healthy lifestyle, the researchers intend to highlight the importance of governmental aid and support in this regard.
I.INTRODUCTION
The world came to a standstill with the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2019, and thus far it has been causing disruptions to the everyday lives of people in Sri Lanka and elsewhere. The pandemic altered our ideology and challenged all our preconceptions. Due to social distancing and other strong measures that have been taken by the government, significant alterations have taken place in social relationships, which have increased isolation at an alarming rate (Smith & Lim, 2020).
The impact of the pandemic has been felt in many fields and sectors due to its rapid transmission, which created social, psychological, health, economic, and educational consequences (Ozamiz-Etxebarria, Santxo, Mondragon & Santamaría, 2021). As a repercussion of the COVID outbreak, schools and universities were among the first places to be closed down in Sri Lanka. This was also a global phenomenon as the necessity to ensure the safety and wellbeing of students was stronly felt. Therefore, school closure was in place globally as a solution to decrease the infection rate (Van Lancker & Parolin, 2020).
The transformation towards online teaching and learning was a sudden shift that took place in the education system in this country. This was also a globally faced challenge as many government schools, universities, and other institutions were conducting more conventional onsite lessons and lectures.