You are a kind HOD. I am sure your staff in your department have great morale and are willing to do more just for you. I used to take MC as a BT when I was not feeling well in my previous school, feeling it was an entitlement, and also I felt a bit burnt out. In the end, I was stuck in a vicious cycle of work piling up. The work assigned are not completed by relief teachers, other teachers also had to take my class and it became unfair to them. They were also tired but they still came to school. They started to not like me or gossip about me. Ranking was affected naturally, I got bad grade.
So as much as possible, we should not be a burden to others. After posting to new school, I try to endure more. Nowadays, I take maximum 1 to 2 days of sick leaves per year. Even for childcare leave，I try to ask my spouse to take. The good thing is I can complete more work, students are more meaningfully engaged with my presence. However on days when I feel tired but still forced myself to go and work, but got arrowed to do relief lesson for someone else, it really does not feel good. However, I did not give up. I endured. Have been getting good grades for past few years as a reward with more performance bonus.
I think it is all about team work. Everyone should try to be present as much as possible. And being in this profession, we have to learn to take care of our health to be there for the students. Taking MC just when we feel tired is not a solution. It will make the situation worse. In fact, I feel so much better, by minimising my absence. My colleagues appreciate me more and trust me more. They know that I will always be around and can use me as backup if anyone else is absent.
It is a tiring profession. But which job is not a tiring one? Just hang in there, if we don't do, who do?
If you want good pay increment, it's difficult because the headcount of teachers is too big. Where is the money going to come from given that the GDP only increase few percent per year? The only way is to cut down manpower which is what we are facing. You want more money but less work, it is not possible unless the ministers take less salary or other ministry spend less and give
MOE more to give to the teachers.
Also, many a times, people sitting in HQ are too comfortable with their jobs. They will not think much about the difficulties or challenges a teacher faces. They still continue to get their salary, travel overseas with their bonus and try very hard not to come back to school. I have known too many who rather quit than come back to school. They cannot take the workload in school as a teacher anymore. However, someone must do the job, it is the teachers. We need to take care of these kids until they are mature enough to go out into the society. In fact,
MOE is a mega childcare. Teachers and students are just a number in the system. So, don't think too highly of ourselves. We just do our job as best as we can, help as many kids as we can and try to stay sane with the recent $500 given to us which is not enough to buy half a new iPhone 16.