MAY 20 — As the echoes of Mother’s Day tributes still linger in our hearts — breakfast in bed, handmade cards, and the annual outpouring of love — another equally important day arrives: Teachers’ Day.
While these celebrations may seem distinct on the surface, they share a deeper connection than most realise, especially when embodied in the figure of the working mother who is also a teacher.
She is the one grading papers after bedtime stories. She’s juggling lesson plans while packing lunch boxes. She’s teaching the ABCs at school and life lessons at home.
This Teachers’ Day, it’s time we shine a spotlight on these everyday superheroes — the teacher-mums — who are shaping futures on multiple fronts.
In 2024, more than 70 per cent of women with school-aged children are active in the workforce, and teaching remains one of the most common professions among them.
Globally, women make up over 80 per cent of primary school teachers, as highlighted in Unesco’s 2023 report on gender dynamics in education. Many of these women are mothers, performing a double shift that merges nurturing at home with mentoring in the classroom.
Consider the experience of a typical Malaysian teacher who is also a mother. After spending eight hours guiding students in the classroom, she returns home to continue her role — though the responsibilities may shift, the essence remains the same.
Whether nurturing her students or raising her own children, her goal is constant: to help them grow into kind, smart, and independent individuals.
Like countless teacher-moms across the country, she juggles syllabi and snack boxes, exam papers and bedtime stories — never quite clocking out, always giving, always nurturing.
The mental load of being a teacher and a mum
Motherhood is already a full-time job. Add teaching into the mix, and the hours in a day suddenly seem insufficient.
A 2022 study by Carver and colleagues revealed that women in education experience significantly higher levels of burnout than their male counterparts, as well as women in other fields. The emotional labor they perform both at home and at school is immense — and often goes unnoticed.
Furthermore, a 2023 study by Thompson et al. found that female teachers with young children were 40 per cent more likely to experience chronic stress compared to those without children.
These women frequently juggle grading, lesson planning, parent communication, and domestic responsibilities all in a single day — a mental load that wears them down without visible scars.
While the pandemic may feel like it’s behind us, the impact on teacher-mums still lingers. When schools went online, living rooms became classrooms, and educators had to teach virtual lessons while supervising their own children’s learning at home.
According to a 2024 meta-analysis by Jain and colleagues, female teachers bore the brunt of remote education, experiencing significant levels of emotional exhaustion and professional dissatisfaction — a burden that led many to consider leaving the profession altogether.
And while frontline workers were applauded globally, teacher-mums quietly carried the weight of two worlds, often without the recognition they deserved.
As we celebrate Teachers’ Day, we must acknowledge that the act of teaching extends far beyond the walls of a school.
Decades of educational research, including a recent meta-analysis by Fan and Chen in 2024, have shown that parental involvement is one of the strongest predictors of student success — even more influential than family income or school resources.
Teacher-mums, therefore, carry a unique dual role: not only do they educate their own children at home, they also invest in the growth and development of dozens of others in their classrooms. This double impact is immeasurable — and often invisible.
As we celebrate Teachers’ Day, we must acknowledge that the act of teaching extends far beyond the walls of a school. — Picture from X
Bridging the appreciation gap
Gifts and thank-you cards are a wonderful gesture, but what working mothers in education truly need are policies that match the scale of their contribution.
Affordable childcare, flexible work schedules, mental health services, and family-friendly school policies are not extras — they are essential.
Without these supports, we risk seeing more teacher-mums burned out and walking away. As highlighted in several recent studies, institutional reform — not just annual celebration — is the only way to truly honor the value of these women.
In many ways, the teacher-mum is the ultimate multitasker: equal parts nurturer, mentor, disciplinarian, friend, and guide. Her day begins before the sun and often stretches into late night lesson prep.
She is correcting math homework with one hand and soothing a fevered forehead with the other. She is shaping minds in her classroom and shaping hearts at her dinner table.
This Teachers’ Day let’s celebrate all educators — but let’s also specifically honour those who are shaping lives in and out of the classroom.
To every working mother who teaches, guides, comforts, and uplifts: thank you. You are not just teaching children how to read and write. You are teaching the world how to care. Happy Teachers’ Day!
• Azwatee Abdul Aziz is an associate professor at the Department of Restorative Dentistry, Faculty of Dentistry, Universiti Malaya, and may be reached at [email protected]
** This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail.
