Mounting pressure on Angus teachers has been revealed, with hundreds of teaching days lost to stress each term.
A union official blamed the present pace of development of the new curriculum for putting them under enormous strain.
Figures obtained by The Courier under freedom of information found 509 teaching days were lost to stress last year and 639 in 2009/10. The council also paid out £646,641 last year to employ 264 supply teachers to plug staff absences.
Angus Council said the success of its specific policy for managing stress at work was reflected in last year’s decrease.
Ronnie Smith, general secretary of the Educational Institute of Scotland union, said: ”Occupational stress is a major problem facing teachers and lecturers. The growth in the number of cases involving psychiatric injury and stress-related illness must be a warning to employers that they need to take account of their employees’ mental, as well as physical, wellbeing.
”Employers should be using the Health and Safety Executive’s stress management standards and trying to reduce and control the levels of stress caused by work activities. Stress-related illnesses are extremely serious and can take a huge toll on the individual concerned.”
David Drysdale, negotiating secretary of the EIS Angus Local Association, said teachers in the county can normally rely on a high level of support from management.
He added: ”However, the pressures on teachers have been well-publicised and research has consistently shown teachers working well in excess of their contracted hours. The present pace of development of the new curriculum in particular is putting enormous strain on teacher workload.
”The education department and teacher trade unions in Angus have encouraged the use of the HSE management standards for stress management for some years and we continue to recommend them to schools as an effective management tool.”
Figures released earlier this month by the EIS showed that compensation payouts for staff have reached over £600,000, with one teacher awarded £250,000 as a consequence of the employer’s failure to act upon repeated reports of excessive workload, which led to the member suffering from a stress-related psychiatric injury.
A spokeswoman for Angus Council said the local authority proactively manages sickness absence and has a specific policy for managing stress at work.
She said: ”The success of this approach is reflected in the significant reduction in the number of teaching days lost to stress over the past two years. It is not possible to generalise on the causes of stress-related illness as people experience stress for a wide variety of reasons, not necessarily related to the workplace. We aim to provide an environment in which stress can be acknowledged, discussed and dealt with openly and have robust policies on absence management and stress management.
”We also provide a wide range of services to employees requiring guidance and/or specific support to those employees who are experiencing workplace or personal stress. The education department has a health and wellbeing policy, which was developed by a working group which included staff from primary and secondary schools. The aim of the policy is to embed ‘wellbeing’ into the culture of educational establishments and to give guidance on supporting staff who may be suffering from stress.
”Supply teachers can be used to provide cover in a number of circumstances, such as sickness or maternity leave, and they are supported by the education service to ensure continuity of education for Angus pupils.”
A poll by Teacher Support Network found 96% of teachers, school leaders and lecturers said their workload has had a negative effect on their health and wellbeing.