Teachers off 500,000 days through stress
TEACHERS missed almost half a million days of school in the past three years because of stress and depression.
And figures show the problem has increased annually since 2013.
The damning statistics have led to calls for the Scottish Government to review what support is available for teachers across primaries, secondaries and nurseries.
The Lib Dems, who uncovered the details, called for a penny to be added on tax to bring in £500million more for schools.
The figures show 139,486 days were lost to “mental health” sickness days in three years. The total grew to 150,634 then 158,639 by 2015-16.
So far this year, there have been 28,246 sick days recorded – but that figure is expected to grow sharply by the end of 2016-17.
Some councils – including Aberdeenshire and Edinburgh – show a reduction in sick days.
But others show a large increase. North Lanarkshire said absences increased from 8515 to 15705 over three years. In Glasgow, the figure rose from 12,730 to 14,390.
Angus and South Lanarkshire reported no sickness days because of the way they hold data.
The Western Isles said there were none in 2013-14 and 2014-15, but 1079 last year.
The trend is declining in Midlothian and Moray, while
It paints a worrying picture of a workforce under severe strain MSP ALEX COLE-HAMILTON