Almost half of Scotland’s stressed out and overworked teachers say they could quit in the next five years.
The cost of living crisis, increased work demands and having to pay for resources from their own funds have all been highlighted as major problems in a survey of teaching staff.
More than 16,000 teachers responded to the EIS survey and laid bare the stresses facing the teaching profession. It found 48.5 per cent said they did not expect to still be teaching within the next five years.
Half of them said they feel their level of wellbeing in the job is either poor or very poor as a massive 72.5 per cent said they frequently or constantly felt stressed in their job.
A total of 70.7 per cent were either dissatisfied or very dissatisfied with workload levels, with only a tiny 1.9 per cent saying they could complete all their tasks within the working week and more than three-quarters saying they rarely or never had enough time to prepare and correct work.
Teachers are clocking up a massive amount of work for free – in more than 40 per cent of cases working the equivalent of more than an extra day every week. Only 1.6 per cent say they work less than an hour outwith their contracted hours.
They are also having to dig deep into their own pockets to buy food, clothing or school equipment for pupils.
Almost 15 per cent have increased the money they are forking out because of the increase in poverty levels among pupils but more than half have had to cut back the amount they spend because they are struggling to pay their own rent, mortgage, food and car costs.
One teacher said: “I don’t think the public or the government realise the actual hours teachers work, and assume working hours are the same as the school day.
“I also don’t think they realise the time, effort, personal sacrifice and money teachers spend on doing the best they can by their pupils.”
Another stated: “It doesn’t pay to be a teacher. No money, no respect, completely exhausted.”
The feelings are not unusual. One frustrated teacher told how the workload is “never ending and completely unmanageable”.
EIS general secretary Angela Bradley said: “There is a huge parity with what’s going on in education and what’s going on in the health service – professionals working way beyond the terms of their contracts to paper over the cracks – more than cracks, gulfs I would say.”
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “This survey is concerning given the context of our teachers accepting the biggest pay package for their members in over 20 years – with the majority seeing salaries rise by £5200.
“Classroom teachers on the main-grade scale in Scotland are the best paid in the UK. Since October 2020, the Scottish Government has invested over £2million in supporting the wellbeing of the education workforce with support packages.”
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