Scottish teachers suffer high levels of stress

Scotland’s teachers are crippled by stress and depression and are taking up to six times the UK average in sick leave due to psychological ill-health, new figures have revealed.

Statistics obtained under the Freedom of Information Act revealed a mental health crisis among teachers in Scotland with an average of over three times the official rate of stress-related illness (0.6 days per worker a year), while some councils reported levels of over six times higher.

Scottish teaching union EIS called for class sizes and teacher workloads to be reduced. A union spokesperson told the Herald newspaper that: “It is of little surprise that the number of reported cases of stress is so large in light of the workload of teachers and the conditions in which many teachers have to work.”