1.3m school working days lost to mental ill health

Scottish Liberal Democrat education spokesperson Willie Rennie MSP has today warned of the “mounting toll” of mental health absences among Scottish education staff, as he revealed that a staggering 1,362,204 teacher, support staff and nursery staff days have been lost for mental health reasons since April 2018.    

Figures uncovered by Scottish Liberal Democrats under freedom of information legislation, reveal:    

• 1,362,204 school and nursery staff days were lost for mental health reasons between 2018/19 and 2023/24. This equates to more than 3,732 years.  
• The number of staff days lost has risen from 172,690 days in 2018/19 to 301,314 days in 2023/24.    
• South Lanarkshire had the highest number of staff days lost in 2022/23 with 27,563 days lost, followed by Glasgow on 22,136 days and North Lanarkshire on 20,745 days.  

Mr Rennie said:

“These troubling figures show the mounting toll that mental health absences among teachers and staff are taking across our schools and nurseries.    

“From rising violence in classrooms to a lack of support to tackle the attainment gap, the message that successive Scottish Education Secretaries have sent is that teachers are on their own.

“When learning environments are turning into pressure-cookers, it’s no wonder staff are going off sick.

“It’s time to stop asking our education staff to perform miracles. I want to see the government get back to basics by ensuring teachers and staff have the resources and support that they need.”