Two in five teachers sick with stress

Two in five teachers sick with stress

More than two out of five teachers (43.9 per cent) have suffered from stress related illnesses, a new poll has revealed. The Teachers TV survey, based on responses from 772 primary and secondary school teachers, found a quarter of the affected teachers said they have lived with anxiety (27.1 per cent), with others suffering from depression and insomnia. Some teachers said they had endured stress-related ME and angina. More than four out of five teachers (82.3 per cent) questioned in the survey said they believe teaching is more stressful than work in other fields and over half of teachers (55.7 per cent) have considered leaving the profession because of the stress of teaching, up by 5 per cent since 2006. Stress is also negatively affecting their ability to do their job, with more than a quarter of teachers (26.1 per cent) having taken at least a day off work as a result of stress in the last 12 months. This has doubled since Teachers TV's last poll on stress, carried out in 2006. At the time just over one in eight (13 per cent) teachers had taken a day off work as a result of stress. Commenting on the findings, Chris Keates, general secretary of teaching union NASUWT, said the findings 'confirm the results of similar surveys, including those undertaken by the NASUWT. What is needed, however, is not a plethora of surveys but urgent action by employers on the clear evidence that teachers are suffering high levels of stress.' She added: 'The critical issue is to tackle excessive workload and working hours and to secure the contractual entitlement teachers have to a satisfactory work/life balance. The changes made to the teachers' contract over the last six years have all been designed to do just that, but still too many schools are not ensuring that teachers receive these benefits and entitlements to protect their health and enable them to work effectively.'

Teachers TV news release. NASUWT news release.