Teachers feel pressured to go to work unwell

A new survey has revealed that almost three-quarters of primary teachers feel under pressure to go to work when they are ill.

According to a poll of 1,500 UK primary teachers by recruitment consultancy Randstad, 76 per cent work more than their agreed hours.

Forty-eight per cent are regularly working more than one extra hour a day and one in 10 admitted to working three of more hours of unpaid overtime every day.

In addition to this, 16 per cent of respondents said they regularly work weekends and 72 per cent said they feel pressure to go into work, even when they are sick.

Mary Bousted, general secretary of the ATL teaching union, said: “Teachers always feel under pressure to get into work.

“They want the children to keep learning. They want to keep routines established.”

Bousted continued: “Also, they know that pupils rely on them, especially vulnerable pupils. Schools might be one of the few places where these pupils have security and stability.

“But teachers pay the price when they stop – you often find that you get to the end of the half-term and then you collapse.”