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WRITTEN QUESTION TO THE MINISTER FOR EDUCATION BY DEPUTY G.P. SOUTHERN OF ST. HELIER
ANSWER TO BE TABLED ON TUESDAY 24TH MAY 2016
Question
What measures does the Minister have in place or under consideration to relieve workplace stress in both primary and secondary schools in order to reduce the 948 sick days taken by teachers due to anxiety, stress or depression in 2015? Does the Minister consider that teachers' administrative workloads have an impact on the level of workplace stress and, if so, what steps, if any, will he put in place to reduce this?
Answer
The same conditions apply to teachers as other staff across the States in terms of absence related to anxiety, stress or depression. This issue is highlighted in the Managers' Guidelines for Managing Attendance as a reason for concern. Managers are advised to consider referring staff to the occupational health service if this is their reason for absence to ensure they have access to the appropriate support.
In addition, the Education Department will shortly be holding follow-up workshops and focus groups to address the issues raised in the Teacher Survey conducted in Autumn 2015. The four main themes that emerged from the survey included well-being and support issues and it is recognised that more work is required to explore the reasons teachers might be affected by anxiety, stress or depression. This will help in the formulation of measures to help combat the causes in cases where they are work-related. Teacher well-being will also be explored further in the ongoing discussions with the Education Partnership with the NASUWT union and the Education Forum with the NUT and other unions.
In addition, a corporate well-being strategy is being developed by the central HR team.