Teachers in Dumfries and Galloway face a “rising tide of workload” due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The Educational Institute of Scotland conducted an online survey in November and more than 16,000 teachers took part.
It found that 88 per cent of respondents indicated their workload burden has increased during the pandemic and 61 per cent feel it has increased “significantly”.
And 93 per cent of teachers work above their contracted hours each week with 45 per cent doing the equivalent of an extra day.
EIS general secretary, Larry Flanagan, said: “Teachers have continued to face a rising tide of workload throughout the pandemic, for a wide range of reasons.
“Clearly, changes brought about in response to the pandemic have had an impact on teacher workload with additional tasks requiring to be undertaken on a daily basis to help keep classrooms safe.
“The increased emphasis on digital learning – be that in the classroom or remotely from home – has created challenges for teachers, often associated with a lack of suitable equipment and resources.
“Teachers are also reporting a significant amount of time dealing with pupil behaviour as many young people continue the struggle to overcome the negative impact of the pandemic on their lives.”
South Scotland MSP Colin Smyth said: “There isn’t a teacher in Dumfries and Galloway who won’t recognise these findings and the big fear is as our teachers head back to work this week ahead of pupils returning to the classroom, the workload pressures are going to get worse.
“The government say don’t mix with more than three households but this week they’re sending our teachers back to mix with 30 different households every hour.
“Along with the rules on self-isolation that will mean we will have significant absences, so fewer and fewer teachers will have to do more and more.
“While the government’s desire to keep schools open is laudable, they are delivering it on the backs of overworked and under resourced teachers.
“But we shouldn’t kid ourselves that these workload pressures just started with the pandemic.
“Coronavirus has simply exasperated a problem that has been growing for years.”
