More than 310,000 school and nursery staff days lost to mental ill health

Speaking on International Day of Education, Scottish Liberal Democrat education spokesperson Willie Rennie MSP has today called on the government to take urgent action to support Scotland’s education sector and tackle "pressure cooker classrooms" as he revealed that 310,739 working days among school and nursery staff had been lost to mental health in just eighteen months.  

Figures from 31 out of 32 of Scotland’s local authorities, obtained via Scottish Liberal Democrat freedom of information requests, reveal:  

• 202,128 working days were lost to mental health among teachers, support staff and nursery staff in 2021/22.
• 108,611 working days were lost to mental health among teachers, support staff and nursery staff between April and October 2022.
• Combined, this amounted to a total loss of 310,739 working days among school and nursery staff.

Mr Rennie said:

"These figures show that having been pushed to their absolute limit, teachers and nursery staff feel overworked, undervalued and burned out.

"Over the past years, teachers, support staff and nursery staff have all seen class sizes rise and classroom support plummet. It is little wonder that they are now suffering from such poor mental health. The impact on staff and the consequent disruption for children and pupils should make the government sit up and pay attention.

"It comes at a time when the poverty-related attainment gap has remained broadly the same and worsened in certain areas.

"Scottish Liberal Democrats have been long standing advocates for education. To get Scottish education back on track, we need to get the basics right. That means reviewing pay and conditions for staff in the education sector, creating more time for lesson planning and cutting class sizes so that pupils get the support they deserve. That's how we tackle Scotland's pressure cooker classrooms."