School staff in South Lanarkshire have missed more than 40,000 working days in just four years because of mental health issues.
Almost 4000 days were lost between just August and early December last year alone and the crisis is resulting in staff quitting the profession and a “poorer experience for pupils”, a teaching union has warned.
The figures were revealed after a Freedom of Information request by the Scottish Liberal Democrats found that the total number of missed days for staff across Scotland is nearly 550,000 since 2017.
In South Lanarkshire, the stats showed 9335 days were missed in 2017/2018, before a leap to 15,643 in 2018/2019.
That number then dipped slightly to 13,378 for the curtailed 2019/2020 year, with 3745 absences already recorded to date for 2020/2021.
Andy Harvey, of the South Lanarkshire branch of the EIS teaching union. told the Reformer he fears that excessive workloads will continue to cause difficulties for teachers, and have a negative impact on pupils in the process.
He said: “The upward curve is deeply concerning but unsurprising.
“Excessive workload and stress are making teachers ill, driving some from the profession and leading to a poorer experience for pupils.
“The pandemic has exacerbated these pressures as teachers have worked tirelessly to give pupils as positive a learning experience as possible in unprecedented circumstances.
“The council has supports for teachers experiencing poor mental wellbeing, but we need more supports in place at school level, and in the long term we need to get at the root issues of excessive workload by lowering class sizes.
“This would provide a healthier working and learning environment for both teachers and young people.”
Stewart Nicolson, head of education at South Lanarkshire Council said: “Working in partnership with the teacher professional associations, there is a shared commitment to fair and effective working practices.
“Local agreements provide clear guidance in relation to working time and in relation to workload which are in line with national expectations and take into account the current circumstances.
“The council acknowledges the exceptional efforts being made by school staff and by others to support children and young people at such a challenging time, and the wellbeing of pupils and school staff is a priority for everyone in education.”
The figures were slammed by Beatrice Wishart MSP, the Liberal Democrats education spokesperson.
She said: “The pressures caused by the SNP’s top-down approach to education and the loss of valuable classroom support have been obvious for some time.
“All of this was taking its toll long before the coronavirus pandemic came over the horizon.
“Since then, teachers have been thrust into the frontline, dealing with conditions that no other group has been asked to tolerate. It will be no surprise if absences this year are even higher. “
A spokesperson for the Scottish Government added: “Supporting the health and wellbeing of teachers and other staff is of crucial importance as they support our young people to recover from the effects of the coronavirus crisis.
“In September we announced Barnardo’s Scotland and the charity Place2Be will be offering new mental health support.”
