NUT raises concerns over teacher welfare as 52,000 days lost to stress

NUT Cymru has raised concerns over the welfare of Welsh teachers after research found that 51,795 days were lost to stress related illnesses last year.

The figure represents and increase of 2,568 days compared to 2014, with the overall total since January 2012 standing at 202,314 missing teaching days.

David Evans, NUT Cymru secretary, advises that the total cost of days lost to stress since 2012 works out at around the equivalent of £34.4m for supply cover and has called on the new Education Minister to put teacher’s workload ‘at the very top of her to do list’.

Evans, said: “Workload induced stress amongst teachers is seemingly getting worse in Wales. The new Minister will of course want to get to grips with some of the big policy issues such as the curriculum and professional development but the stark reality is that unless we deal with this concern the success of all other initiatives is put at risk. We can’t continually expect the teaching profession to deliver record breaking results when we are seeing record breaking levels of mental ill-health problems due to the pressures they are being placed under.

“It is important to recognise that the last Welsh government acknowledged this problem and indeed tasked pioneer schools with the responsibility of factoring it into their work on the curriculum. The new Minister will need to examine what solution may potentially come out of that work. Having written to the Minister with this data we know of her commitment to this issue. We are also grateful that she is exploring how reducing class sizes can play a role in reducing the workload burden on the profession. We are looking forward to discussing further with the Minister how we can work with her in supporting any and all initiatives designed to reduce stress on staff.”