Why Teachers Quit?!

Why Teachers Quit?! is a damning indictment of our supposedly world class education system. This brutally honest account reveals what it truly is: overrated, callous, insipid, shameful, stressful and mercenary; a system in which schools, which were sacred bastions of learning, are now corrupted parodies of their former selves.

Enzo Liow devotes much of his book on the four main areas which could break a teacher: students, parents, teachers and the system. Teachers are expected to maintain discipline, yet they are no longer granted the authority to punish errant students. Parents expect their teachers to do everything from teaching to instilling moral values. Instead of concentrating on imparting knowledge to their young and impressionable charges, our educators have to devote much time on non-academic obligations. From attending endless meetings and training courses, doing projects, conducting extra curriculum activities to ensuing their schools achieve commercial recognition like ISO standards and People’s Developer awards, teachers are overburdened and stretched to breaking point. Indeed, there is no respite in this debilitating profession. It only comes when he or she resigns.

Reading this book sends a shudder down my spine. Something is seriously wrong when the system is obsessed with results and will do anything to achieve the next accolade or award. The school environment is now a cut-throat corporate culture. Everybody is expendable and a commodity to be ruthlessly exploited to benefit the school and its management. A paradigm shift has occurred in education: corporatism has tainted it and reduced everything to bare monetary values. And our teachers and students are worse off for it.

The testimonials from ex-teachers make particularly gut-wrenching reading. Their words betray an underlying sense of despair, that of the idealist pitted against an uncaring system of crushing cynicism. Although Enzo Liow expresses hope for the teaching profession, his tone reminds you of a man who drinks himself to blissful oblivion to escape the harshness – and truth of reality.

Why Teachers Quit?! could have been a masterpiece but the author shot himself in the foot with his Singapore-style English and poor grammar. Smileys do not belong to a published work of this nature; their inclusion makes his writing amateurish. The book is also too short to truly qualify as a discourse on a serious topic.

Despite its shortcomings, I would recommend this book to any wannabe teacher. Rarely has a commentary been so refreshing honest and Enzo Liow deserves credit for highlighting a problem that has been swept under the carpet.

Ratings: 4/5