A large majority of teachers say their workload has increased during the pandemic, according to a survey by Scotland’s largest teaching union.
The EIS teaching union poll of more than 16,000 teachers found 88 per cent of teachers reporting increased workload during Covid, with 61 per cent of teachers saying workload had risen “significantly”.
The survey also found that 93 per cent work above their contracted hours each week, with 45 per cent of full-time staff reporting they work more than eight extra hours a week.
Many teachers highlighted that moving to remote or blended learning had added a considerable amount of work.
Some 61 per cent said that meeting pupils’ additional support needs, including mental health support, had significantly added to their workload in the past 12 months.
Larry Flanagan, general secretary of the EIS teaching union, said: “Teachers have continued to face a rising tide of workload throughout the pandemic, for a wide range of reasons.
“Clearly, changes brought about in response to the pandemic have had an impact on teacher workload with additional tasks requiring to be undertaken on a daily basis to help keep classrooms safe.
“The increased emphasis on digital learning - be that in the classroom or remotely from home - has created challenges for teachers, often associated with a lack of suitable equipment and resources.”
Mr Flanagan added: “Teachers are also reporting a significant amount of time dealing with pupil behaviour as many young people continue to struggle to overcome the negative impact of the pandemic on their lives.”
In the online survey, conducted by the EIS teaching union in November, teachers highlighted that sanitising workspaces and ensuring all Covid mitigations are followed often disrupts lessons and adds to their workload.
Secondary teachers also reported that the “alternative certification model” (ACM) - brought in when national exams were cancelled as a result of the pandemic - significantly increased their workload. Some 93 per cent noted an increase in their SQA-related workload, with 80 per cent describing the increase as significant.
Mr Flanagan said: “In addition to the challenges of keeping up to date with government Covid safety protocols, which affect all teachers, teachers in secondary schools face additional difficulties with Scottish Qualifications Authority-related workload.
“The challenges brought about by short-notice changes to the qualifications system have been a major driver in additional workload over the past two years for secondary teachers.
“Meaningful reform of the examinations system is now required to ease the workload burden of teachers and students alike.”
A Scottish government spokesperson said: “Teachers have been outstanding throughout the pandemic and we can’t thank them enough.
“We are committed to reducing teachers’ class-contact time by 90 minutes per week to give them more time to plan and ease their workload.
“In the last year, we have invested over £2 million in supporting teacher wellbeing with a package of support, developed in conjunction with the [Covid-19] Education Recovery Group.
“We have provided £240 million of additional investment since the start of the pandemic, specifically for the recruitment of more education staff.”
The government spokesperson said that figures published in December show that teacher numbers have increased for the sixth year in a row, rising to 54,285 in 2021.
“There are now over 2,000 more teachers than before the start of the pandemic in 2019, and more teachers than at any time since 2008. The ratio of pupils to teachers is at its lowest since 2009,” the spokesperson added.
Willie Rennie, Scottish Liberal Democrat education spokesperson, said: “Teachers have been faced with an incredibly demanding set of challenges which have frequently changed and often with little notice.
“Their response has been remarkable and parents have discovered a newfound admiration for the work of teachers.
“In return for that huge effort, political and education leaders must listen to teachers and respond with improvements such as stripping out the standardised assessments and school league tables, improve ventilation, improve pay, employ on permanent contracts the many teachers without work or those on temporary contracts, and put teachers in charge of education reforms.”
Michael Marra, Scottish Labour education spokesperson, said: “Scotland’s teachers have bailed out the disastrous decision-making of Scottish government education ministers time and again throughout the pandemic.
“They have gone above and beyond their contracts month after month. They are exhausted.”
Mr Marra added: “Recent evidence shows that the pandemic has led to a huge loss in attainment that must be addressed if this generation of young people are not to carry the scars of the pandemic through their lives.
“A pay rise, rather than a real-terms pay cut, must just be the start of a true education comeback plan for Scotland.
“The SNP government must acknowledge the scale of the challenge in our schools.”
