THE 2,555th anniversary of the birth of Confucius fell on September 28 this year. An official memorial ceremony was held on the day to honour the ancient Chinese sage.

This was the first time since the establishment of the People's Republic of China in 1949 that the occasion of Confucius' birth had been marked. More than

3,000 people from around China and the world attended the ceremony in Qufu, Shandong Province. Among them were descendants of Confucius, government officials and people from various walks of life.

Confucius is greatly respected by people in China and other Asian countries deeply influenced by Confucian thought. In ancient China, Confucius constructed a profound cultural system, which takes education as its base. The four major Confucian classics - The Analects of Confucius, The Doctrine of the Mean, The Great Learning and Mencius - formed the basis of education in China for centuries. Confucius (Kongzi in Chinese) was called "Virtuous Teacher Kong" due to his contribution to ancient Chinese education.

Thanks in large part to Confucius, teaching has been a highly respectable profession throughout Chinese history. Teachers have enjoyed a lofty social status, with their importance in people's lives considered equivalent to that of their fathers. This is illustrated by the old saying: "One day he becomes my teacher, over my whole life he becomes my father". Moreover, among the five most important ethical relationships for ancient Chinese, the relationship between teachers and students is included, along with those connecting people with heaven, earth, the emperor and their families.

Increasing stress

Yet as time has gone by, this tradition has gradually declined in China. Chinese teachers have begun to suffer from the worries and pressures brought about by the change in people's attitudes and, with it, a decline in respect. Due to the economic development of recent years, the relationship between teachers and students has evolved into a relationship similar to that between employee and employer. Early in 1995, the Shanghai government launched a project entitled "A Study of Elementary School Teachers' Psychological Health in Shanghai", for which 3,055 elementary school teachers were selected to take part in psychological tests.

The results revealed that among those tested, 48 per cent had psychological problems. Among the teachers with psychological problems, 12 per cent had obvious psychological symptoms and in 2 per cent of those cases the problems were deemed serious.

With increasing numbers of such surveys being conducted, the results are painting a dark picture of today's teaching profession. One recent survey, conducted jointly by sina.com and the Beijing Morning Post and involving 4,739 teachers nationwide, showed 59 per cent reported symptoms of bad health; they often felt fatigue, headaches and had trouble getting to sleep. Only 2.8 per cent of the teachers surveyed said they never had such problems. The survey also found that 72.5 per cent of the teachers reported they were overstressed at work.

The most recent survey of teachers' psychological health, carried out by Linzi Psychological Consultation Center in Shanghai, showed that 40 per cent of more than 200 teachers surveyed had psychological problems of various kinds, with 5 per cent showing obvious symptoms.

Considering that many different psychological problems can result from long-term suffering, it seems daily pressures on teachers are intensifying.

What are the effects of teachers' psychological problems? According to Wang Huaiqi, psychological consultant at the Linzi center, there are two possible results. First, teachers are more likely to inflict excessive punishment and abuse on their pupils. Such actions are a sign of serious psychological problems, and are often accompanied by obvious symptoms.

Second, teachers with relatively mild psychological problems - those that might not be noticed by others or even themselves - can still have a profound influence on their students. A teacher's depressed and gloomy attitude can affect students throughout their lives, as children are subjected to a damaging negative influence just at the time their own personalities are being formed.

Loss of respect

Why do teachers have these special problems? It might be because Chinese tradition has placed such a burden of responsibility upon them, while recent conditions have done much to erode respect.

"We always set many strict requirements upon teachers," said Wang. "Many teachers gladly accepted these pressures. They made sense because they had been raised with an understanding of the peculiarities of this occupation. But as the public begins to lower its expectations of teachers, the teachers might be put under less pressure. This could be good for both their health and their performance at work."

Teachers are also put under pressure by social changes. It is true that teachers' incomes have drastically increased in recent years, but their authority has been increasingly challenged. The social status of teachers has declined. As members of a profession in which authority is especially important, teachers can feel lost when they find the public does not show them the same respect as in the past.

In coming to terms with this situation, teachers need to accept the loss of some traditional deference. But the public should realize that teaching is very different from other careers, and that the relationship between students and teachers cannot be conceived in the same way as that between employees and employers.

The vice Minister of Education recently announced that the Minister opposed any trend towards "industrializing" education. This statement provided an opportunity to reflect upon the profession: education cannot be compared to other industries or businesses.

Teachers should not be judged by the same standards as workers in other industries. They deserve special attention, because in their hands the future of the nation grows.