The problem of teacher mental health is to be debated at next week’s Trades Union Congress (TUC) in Manchester.
The TUC will consider warnings of a direct link between the mental health and wellbeing of teachers and that of their pupils, and fears that the long-term consequences could be “catastrophic” for the country.
A NASUWT motion, to be put before TUC member unions on Monday (10 September), will say that the congress is “deeply concerned” by evidence from NASUWT’s Annual Big Question survey, carried out earlier this year, in which almost two-thirds of teachers said their job had adversely affected their mental health in the past 12 months.
The motion states: “Congress believes that the current environment in schools is now toxic for the majority of teachers and that this has been exacerbated by recent government reforms to education, by the impact of increasing levels of poverty upon pupils, and by the government’s negative attitude towards workers’ rights and health and safety.
“Congress is further concerned about mounting signs of mental health and wellbeing issues for pupils in schools. Congress believes that there is a direct link between the mental health and wellbeing of teachers and that of their pupils. Congress believes that the long-term consequences of these problems could be catastrophic upon the country as a whole.”
In an exclusive interview with Tes, education secretary Damian Hinds said he took pupil mental health “extremely seriously”, but dismissed fears that new, tougher GCSEs were having ill effects.
Previously, NASUWT had debated a motion at its annual conference in the spring, calling for entitlement to mental health training, professional counselling or cognitive behaviour therapy for teachers suffering work-related mental ill health.
Should the TUC motion be passed on Monday, the congress will call on the government to act by addressing the causes of poor mental health and wellbeing in schools, and by promoting workers’ rights, as well as health and safety regulation and legislation, as a means of addressing the problems.
