O-197 COVID-19 AND HEALTH AND SAFETY OF THE DIGITAL EDUCATORS: A CASE STUDY OF BANGLADESH
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AbstractIntroductionThe COVID-19 pandemic led to significant changes in the education sector worldwide, forcing schools to shift to remote online teaching. As such, the digital teaching introduced unique occupational health stressors that posed a threat to the wellbeing of educators in Bangladesh. While much attention has been given to the quality of education, there is a lack of understanding regarding the impact on teachers’ lives and wellbeing. The study aimed to identify specific health risks and needs related to the transition to digital teaching.MethodsSix Focus Group Discussions (n=48) were conducted to solicit the (primary and high school) teachers’ and tutors’ experiences of digital teaching. Using purposive sampling strategies, we recruited participants from different groups, including genders, rural and urban settings, and many more.ResultsThe findings reveal the dynamics of challenges the teachers encountered, which included the blurring work-life, competing responsibilities (e.g.,caregiving), dual burden (e.g., household chores) for females while teaching remotely, access and learning new technology (e.g., technostress), anxiety stemming from salary suspension or job loss. However, many expressed a positive outlook because of the convenience of commuting to schools amidst traffic jams.DiscussionIn Bangladesh, neither Labor laws nor recently developed (2013) occupational health and safety (OHS) policies do not cover schoolteachers’ OHS. As the Ministry of Education has no specific guidelines, it is high time to identify occupational health risks exposed to digital educators.ConclusionDigital educators face numerous health-related challenges that need to be communicated with the existing policies to understand the gaps between policy and practice.
