No teacher in the country has suffered mental ailments because of workload, said the Education Ministry today.

While admitting that teachers' workload had increased as they had to handle files and records and write reports besides teaching, Deputy Minister Datuk Mahadzir Khir said their burden was not so heavy that they suffered mental stress.

"So far, there are no complaints or studies on mentally ill teachers to suggest that their condition is reportedly caused by workload," he was quoted as saying by Bernama .

Mahadzir said this in the Dewan Rakyat when replying to a question from Edmund Chong Ket Wah (BN-Batu Sapi) who wanted to know whether it was true that the percentage of teachers suffering from mental illness was high as reported by the National Union of the Teaching Profession (NUTP).

Chong also wanted to know whether a comprehensive study had been done to determine whether work overload had caused many teachers to suffer from mental stress.

Increasing workload

Mahadzir said the ministry always paid attention to matters relating to teachers' workload by conducting studies to help overcome the problem.

He said the ministry had created counsellor posts at all state and district education departments to help teachers facing personal and professional problems.

To ensure that potential teachers were really qualified to do the job, both physically and mentally, the ministry had instituted vetting at the recruitment stage, he added.

The deputy minister also said the ministry was aware that developments in the country's education system in the wake of global changes had caused the workload of the ministry staff, including school teachers, to increase.

However, the heavier burden should be viewed in positive light towards achieving high quality education and to be on par with other countries, he added.