Council chiefs have been urged to take steps to address shock teacher absence figures.
It was revealed this week that teachers in Perth and Kinross schools have taken almost 9,667 days off work due to stress in the last three years.
The figures are the highest in Scotland, where more than 130,000 working days have been lost over that period.
Perth and Kinross Council has urged caution over the figures, stressing that the absences can relate to a host of difficulties that may not be work-related.
Even so, Mid Scotland and Fife MSP Liz Smith believes the findings are a cause for concern and is seeking action.
“I have written to the Director of Education in Perth and Kinross to ask what the reasons are for such a high teacher absence rate on account of stress in the classroom,” she told The Courier.
“9,667 days lost is a worrying statistic and it is essential that the local authority finds out exactly why its total is so high and that it takes urgent steps to address the problem.
“The publication of these statistics comes hard on the heels of national concerns about the number of supply teachers being available to cover classes and whether the Scottish Government’s programme of workforce planning is working properly.
“Parents rightly want an assurance that their children are being taught by the designated professional and that every effort is made to ensure that there are as few interruptions to that teacher’s class time as possible.”
The figures were revealed following a Freedom of Information request by the Liberal Democrats and were swiftly followed by claims from that party that teachers were being asked “to do more and more with less and less”.
Perth and Kinross Council, however, defended its record and said: “We recognize that teaching can be a very demanding job and we value our teaching staff highly.
“The statistics presented in this report do not purely represent absences due to work-related stress, but also include stress absences caused by personal crisis, fatigue and illness.
“The conclusion should not, therefore, be drawn that each of the 9,667 work days lost were due to work-related stress, as this is not the case.”
The council said there were “clear processes” in place to support staff who experienced stress at work and said it would monitor the causes to see whether extra measures needed to be introduced.