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Higher Education is going through a very tough phase across America at the moment. Nothing seems to be going in the right direction and this is a major sign of worry for all the educational administrators as well as for the Obama administration. Alongwith the higher education system, our overall economy too is steadily declining.

One of the drawbacks of higher education in our country is the declining quality of education. This is one of the reasons why students are no longer showing keen interest in enrolling into colleges and universities. Poor quality of education is due to a number of teachers giving up their jobs.

Enough funds are not reaching most of the higher education institutes in the country. Hence, there is tremendous amount of cost cutting going on. This is the reason why colleges are not able to offer any kind of hike in the pay packages for teachers. This has left teachers in a tough situation. They are being left with no other choice but to look for other professions which may pay them better money.

So is money the only reason why teachers are leaving their jobs? Will the problem resolve if the pay packages are increased? Unfortunately, money is not the only problem for the teachers in the current scenario.

According to a survey, a number of teachers find the profession extremely draining especially on teachers who are young. The overall teaching environment in colleges is not very ideal at the moment and this is one of the reasons why many teachers are not thinking twice before looking for jobs elsewhere.

One of the challenges that teachers face commonly is to work with drop-outs. Handling drop-outs is probably one of the toughest things a teacher has to do. These sessions can be very hard on them, as drop-out students do have a tendency to make life difficult for the teachers who take that extra effort to teach them and get them back on track.

One of the best ways of retaining teachers is by giving them all the support they need. To begin with, their job should not be single dimensional. There should be something new offered to them, both in terms of challenges as well as variety.

For instance – they should be given tough tasks only if they are given adequate time to relax as well. This will happen if the workload is divided in the best and equal manner amongst all the teachers. This may sound like a difficult task but it is possible to make it happen.

Another thing that our administration needs to do right now is to enhance the social status the profession of ‘teaching’ holds. At the moment, teachers are not looked upon in the right sense. This is also one of the reasons why many are leaving their teaching profession looking for greener pastures. It is time to take necessary steps and improve the overall situation. Teachers must be encouraged and lured with incentives and the best ones must be retained at any cost.