The rising cost of stress-related illnesses among teachers has prompted the Department of Education to introduce a new stress-prevention project to second-level schools next month.
Stress is now the major cause of teachers' absence from their classrooms, and it costs millions of pounds annually to pay substitute teachers.
The project follows research which found that teachers have moderate to high levels of stress compared to other groups, and the problem has worsened in the last five years. The Department estimates 40 per cent of teachers suffer from stress now.
According to an internal document, "psychological distress" among teachers is higher than in all other groups, with the exception of the unemployed.
The project will cost about £100,000 and is based on a model developed by the Teachers' Union of Ireland and the Association of Secondary Teachers, Ireland. Up to 350 schools will participate initially.
Based on the TUI/ASTI model the Department has asked schools to have structures for stress prevention and management in place, including ways for staff to communicate with school management, more attention to working conditions and the physical school environment and "more open leadership". This is understood to relate to stress caused among teachers who feel let down by their school's promotion system.
Emmet Oliver can be reached at eolive@irish-times.ie