SCHOOLS CRIPPLED BY STRESS EPIDEMIC
Crisis as 7,000 teachers take sick leave
SOARING numbers of Scottish teachers are being forced to take time off work with stress-related illness.
Nearly 7,000 have been sick in the past three years, with a 20 per cent rise in those suffering from conditions including depression, anxiety and exhaustion.
Fears have been raised about the strain on schools as they deal with an ongoing recruitment crisis and growing pressure due to heavy workloads.
There are 3,500 fewer teachers in Scotland now than there were when the SNP came to power in 2007 – despite Nicola Sturgeon pledging that education is her top priority.
Scottish Tory education spokesman Liz Smith said: ‘It’s no wonder we are struggling to attract enough teachers in Scotland when stress levels are so
high. They are having to deal with increased workloads, low pay and confusion surrounding the curriculum, so it’s understandable that so many are having to take time off.
‘These figures are a damning indictment of the SNP’s tenure in charge of our education system and shows that we need to provide better support to our teachers.’
In 2016-17, 2,498 teachers in both primary and high schools were signed off by doctors and ordered to stay away from the classroom due to ill health.
This was a 21 per cent rise on the 2014-15 academic year, when 2,064 teachers were forced to take sick days due to stress-related illnesses.
Scottish Labour education spokesman Iain Gray said that the figures show teachers have been ‘undervalued’ by the SNP. He called on Education Secretary John Swinney to take ‘urgent’ action to ease the growing pressure due to falling staff numbers and growing workloads because of the Scottish Government’s curriculum for excellence.
Mr Gray said: ‘These figures clearly show that, under the SNP, our children’s teachers are undervalued and under too much pressure. That is why we have a recruitment crisis in some areas and some subjects. The SNP Government now must urgently address this.’
Figures show that nearly 70,000 sick days were taken by teachers suffering from stressrelated illnesses in 2016-17. This is a significant rise from 60,000 two years earlier.
Glasgow City Council had the highest numbers of teachers taking time off in the past three years, with 1,147 having sick days related to stress over that period.
In North Lanarkshire there were 765 stress-related absences, while there were 847 in East Lothian, 379 in Dundee and 373 in Edinburgh.
The plans to assign a state snooper for every child in Scotland would also see some senior teachers forced to take on an additional role as Named Person for pupils, raising fears this would add significant strain.
Mr Swinney earlier this year revealed his plans for an overhaul of school governance, which he claims will hand more powers to teachers – making headteachers responsible for staffing and finances, while stripping this responsibility from councils.
Scottish Lib Dem education spokesman Tavish Scott said: ‘The workloads and pressures on teachers is taking an inevitable toll on people’s health. Tens of thousands of days have been lost due to the failure to deliver a step change in mental health services and provide the right levels of support for our teachers.
‘Some mental health service budgets are being cut so the SNP are even further behind on improving mental health.’
Education in Scotland has been plagued by problems in recent years, with an ongoing recruitment crisis as schools struggle to attract teachers.
Scotland has also plummeted down league tables in literacy and numeracy, despite the First Minister claiming education is the top priority for her Government.
The figures may be higher as a number of councils including East Dunbartonshire and Clackmannanshire did not respond to requests for information.
A Scottish Government spokesman said: ‘Most teachers across Scotland enjoy their job, and we are committed to reducing teacher workload – continued engagement with the profession will be critical in making this happen.’
‘Under too much pressure’