At Least 400 Teachers Were Depressed In April – Report

At least 400 teaches went to various health facilities around the country seeking emotional support as a result of depression.

In a report released by Minet Kenya Insurance, the number of teachers seeking help as a result of depression has risen steadily during the Covid-19 period.

According to Minet, Kenyan teachers are among those struggling with depression, and the cases have increased in the past three months as the pandemic continues to spread.

President Uhuru Kenyatta ordered the closure of all schools to prevent the spread of Covid-19 among students and teachers due to large numbers of learners with limited space for social distancing.

Bungoma County had the highest number of depressed teachers for the month of April. 28 of them went to health facilities seeking help. Nairobi County followed with 24 teachers. Bomet and Machakos counties had 23 and 20 cases respectively.

The report shows that male teachers were more depressed in April than there female counterparts at 54 percent while female at 29 percent. 17 were placed into an unknown category.

The main cause of depression was found to be stress and anxiety. It is still not clear whether schools will open in September as directed by President Uhuru Kenyatta. Cases of Covid-19 have kept on rising.

The data collected was only for teachers in the Teachers Service Commission database. It is feared that teachers who are on TSC payroll might be in a worse situation than those employed by the commission.

Teachers in private schools and those employed by boards of management (BOM) have not been paid their salaries for close to four months. Some have been locked out of their houses for failing to pay rent on time.

Depression among teachers, according to a teacher who did not want to be named, is high because most of them have never stayed away from their students for that long.

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