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56% of UK Teachers Take Average of 8.2 Days Off Sick a Year
Union leaders claim that the high rate of absence among teachers in English state schools is due to high levels of stress.
The Telegraph in the UK reports that 56% of teachers in English state schools were signed off with illness at some point during the 2010/11 school year. This represents a rise from the still astonishingly high figure of 52% the previous year. The absences mark a significant expense for the taxpayer who has to cover the millions of pounds cost each year to provide supply teachers to cover the absent staff.
Union leaders are however defending their members and cite a recent report from the Association of Teachers and Lecturers that found 75% of their members the stress of the job had had a negative impact on their health.
Mary Bousted, general secretary, said: “The demands and pressures on those working in schools and colleges is escalating. It is not surprising that so many teachers and lecturers are considering leaving the profession.”
According to figures from the Department of Education, teachers who took advantage of sick leave rules missed an average of 8.2 days each – out of a 190 day working year.
Among the causes of their stress cited by teachers are: rising workloads; stress related to official inspections; and pupil behaviour. Also causing recent stress to teachers is the threat to the six-week long summer holiday. Nottingham City Council wants to revamp the school year to modernize the current archaic system. This would involve having five terms instead of the current three and slashing the summer holiday break to a mere four weeks.
Christine Blower, general secretary for the National Union of Teachers, denied this would help the pupils in any way:
Staff “refute the misconception that more teaching automatically leads to more learning”
The latest concerns are consistent with a troubled period in UK education where attempts at reforms are continually blocked by teaching unions and teacher’s strikes are occurring two or three times a year, mainly over changes to pension arrangements.
Discontent isn’t confined to rank and file teachers; the Asssociation of School and College recently claimed that 37% of the UK’s head teachers were planning to resign as a direct consequence of education reforms within the country, and that a further 54% were still considering resignation.
Problems with discontented teachers and high absence rates aren’t confined to the UK however; Fort Worth school district in Texas recently admitted that they were unable to provide substitute cover for 15% of teacher absences.
Thursday
April 26th, 2012
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Comments
children are loaded with germs, teachers get sick more. it sucks but it happens
that really doesn’t sound that bad. what percent of other professions miss days?
In a previous story, on ed news I read that an unusually high chunk of absences take place on Mondays and Fridays which makes the “kids are germy” explanation sort of unlikely.
You know that U.S. and the U.K. are two different countries right?
What percent of the absences take place on each day? “Unusually high chunk” is not a percentage. It is a conclusion.
you are quoting, an inexact phrase, from an article on one district in one state.
children carry more germs then adults, they tend to be far more disparate in their clenliness levels, and large collections of people in small places create greater incidences of germ transmission.
add in the effect high stress levels have on your immune system, and 8 days seems a bargain.
besides, some teacher comes to school sick because they are afraid of being fired or not getting paid, and all of those children get sick will their parents be happy about that having to care for a sick child, or children if it spreads? having to potentially lose work days themselves because the teacher didn’t stay home during the highest period of being contagious?
You ever been so busy that the sick doesn’t hit you until you stop? That stop is the weekend. But, I didn’t think so.
trust me pal unless you do my job you don’t know busy
wasn’t talking to you.
fair enough.
hey “pal,” you’ve apparently got enough time to leave a million comments on ednews lol
what you don’t like someone on here defending the profession with facts?
so 44% of the teachers take 0 sick dayswhich means that the average teacher takes 4.5 sick days a year. Way to lie with stats. Both of which are under the 10 gth days industry used to get in addition to sick leave.
We don’t get to use the definition of “average” that suits us best, like you just did.
You’re using the mean when the median tells a much more representative story. We want to know how many sick days do most teachers who take sick days actually don’t show up for work. Not some hypothetical number of sick days when spread over all teachers.
You’re the one trying to tell lies with statistics by cherry-picking the definition of average that you like the best.
at my place of employment we have an attendance rate of 97.4%
that averages out to about 5 sick days a year per person
if our staff averaged 8 sick days a year, that would still be an attendance rate of 95.6%
[...] by U.K’s The Daily Telegraph found that more than half of the country’s teachers took off at least 8.2 days sick in the past year. The Telegraph in the UK reports that 56% of teachers in English state schools were signed off with [...]
[...] investigation by U.K’s The Daily Telegraph found that more than half of the country’s teachers took off at least 8.2 days sick in the past year. The Telegraph in the UK reports that 56% of teachers in English state schools were signed off with [...]