Effect of COVID-19 Pandemic on Teachers’ Health: Lessons for Improving Distance Education

The transition to distance education has led to deterioration in the health of teachers and students. The
purpose of the study was to identify controlled factors of
the educational environment, the impact of which in an
emergency situation due to a pandemic on infectious disease
can be influenced by the administration of general secondary
education institutions. Material and methods: 339 teachers
and 828 parents of general secondary schools of Mykolaiv
region (Ukraine) took part in research from May to June
2021. The research tool was a self-administered survey
questionnaire.The study found that social networks were the
leading source of information on the COVID-19 pandemic
situation for educators. The vast majority of educators
indicated that they follow certain rules of conduct in order
not to get sick. Most respondents admitted that they
experienced weakness, mood swings, depressed thoughts,
anxiety and tension due to the situation with the COVID-19
pandemic. Mostly more fatigue, hypodynamics and impaired
vision were considered by teachers as manifestations of
deteriorating physical condition. Manifestations of
psychological deterioration, according to teachers, were
greater aggression, agitation, signs of depression and
emotional instability. The key factors in preventing the
deterioration of teachers’ health in the event of an infectious disease pandemic, which can be influenced by the
administration of general secondary education institutions,
include: reducing the workload of teachers during distance
education; conducting professionally oriented education of
teachers in the field of health technologies; increasing the
level of information competence of teachers; improving the
technological base of schools for distance learning.