One MILLION teaching days lost in just two years due to mental illness, amid fears of a ‘sick note culture’ disrupting children’s education
More than a million days of education have been lost due to mental health sick days in the past two years, the Daily Mail can reveal.
In the last academic year, this figure was 535,970 days, representing approximately 20 percent of all health-related absences.
Some 487,986 days were lost due to mental health sick days in 2022/2023, according to analysis of council data by the TaxPayers’ Alliance.
It stems from concerns that schools are in the grip of a ‘culture of disease’ that is disrupting the education of children, especially those from the most disadvantaged communities.
The data showed that nearly 20,000 teachers had called in sick for at least one day last year due to mental health issues.
Just over 18,500 did so in 2022/2023. Last year, teachers who were absent due to psychological problems had an average of 26 days off.
The data showed that nearly 14,000 teachers called in sick every day, which equates to approximately 2.5 million lost teaching days due to illness.
Nearly five million teaching days have been lost in the past two years due to ill health.
Over the past two years, more than a million days of education have been lost due to sick days in mental health care. Image: Stock image
Some 487,986 days were lost due to mental health sick days in 2022/2023, according to analysis of council data by the TaxPayers’ Alliance. Image: Stock image
Leeds had the highest number of teachers taking sick leave for mental health reasons, with 2,525 teachers taking time off in the last two academic years, costing more than 53,618 teaching days. This accounts for 5 percent of the total figure in Britain.
Hertfordshire County Council saw 1,492 teachers take at least one day off sick due to their mental health.
Full-time teachers have an average of 32 more days of vacation each year than office workers, meaning their absences represent a greater share of missed work.
Professor Len Shackleton, editor and research fellow at the Institute for Economic Affairs, said: ‘The increase in leisure time year on year reflects a decline in resilience and willingness to exploit tolerant working environments.
‘It is bad for the students and increases costs because teachers have to be deployed.’
A Department for Education spokesperson said: ‘Wherever possible, this government wants teachers at the front of classrooms.
‘The Education Staff Wellbeing Charter has been developed in collaboration with industry and mental health experts to improve staff wellbeing.
“The Government is committed to working with teachers as partners in the pursuit of better, so we can break down the barriers to opportunity for every child.”
The Ministry of Education does not record the reasons for teacher absences.