PANDEMIC TAKES ITS TOLL ON TEACHERS

Call for support as stress levels and absences soar

Airdrie’s MSP has warned “more support for teachers is needed” after startling figures revealed nearly 36,000 school staff days have been lost in North Lanarkshire for mental health reasons.

The extent of the toll on the employees comes as schools in Monklands remain closed to the majority of pupils until at least the middle of next month, with home learning instead required to educate youngsters.

Statistics obtained through a Freedom of Information request showed that, from April 2017 up until the start of this year, an incredible 35,608 school staff days have been lost in North Lanarkshire for mental health reasons. The figures include 21,557 lost days for teachers, 2153 for head and deputy heads and 11,898 for support staff.

Alex Neil, Airdrie MSP, responded: “This pandemic has put enormous strains on teachers. The first lockdown was very stressful as there was hardly any warning before it happened. Then, when children went back to school, there was a lot of catching up to do. Now we are back

in lockdown, coming on top of teachers’very serious worries about catching Covid themselves, it is little wonder there has been a high level of sickness leave.

“More support for teachers facing stress and mental illness is needed. We need to do much more to help them through this tough time, as we also need to for pupils.”

The EIS is Scotland’s largest teaching trade union and a spokesperson insists there is a risk that more teachers will become ill.

The spokesperson added: “Severe workload and the pressures of teaching throughout the pandemic can clearly increase stress on teachers and have a detrimental impact on their mental wellbeing. As the employer, local authorities have a duty of care to protect both the physical and mental wellbeing of teaching staff.

“Without proper support to manage workload and reduce stress, there is a clear risk that more teachers will become ill, with serious implications for both teacher wellbeing and on the delivery of a quality learning experience for pupils.”

In the school year of 2017/18 a total of 10,692 days were lost; that jumped to 11,556 in 2018/19 and 11,177 days in 2019/20 despite schools being closed during the first lockdown. So far in 2020/21, over 2100 days have been lost.

A North Lanarkshire Council spokesman said: “mental health related issues are the top reason for absence across all council services, not only schools, and there has been an increase in this type of absence over the last few years.

“This is a trend across most other local authorities and public sector organisations in Scotland. It is in part due to the significant amount of change and transformation across local government, including North Lanarkshire Council, and more employees feeling able to disclose poor mental health as the reason for their absence. We recognise the pandemic has had, and continues to have, an impact on the home and work lives of our employees, and a range of support and information is available, including access to counselling and a welfare support officer.

“The council has a mental health and wellbeing strategy which sets out the organisation’s commitment to the protection, promotion and support of the mental health and wellbeing of all employees, and its practical policies on issues such as managing attendance and flexible work style options.”

Across Scotland, 550,000 school staff days have been lost for mental health reasons since April 2017.