Education champion workload
Educational staff suffered the most from work stress last year, according to research by Statistics Netherlands and TNO. On average, 7 percent of all employees in the Netherlands named work pressure in 2021 as the most important reason for their most recent absenteeism. In the pedagogical professions this was 11 percent.
Picture: Type tank
Earlier this year, Statistics Netherlands and TNO presented the results of their annual National Working Conditions Survey (NEA).
True to tradition, both organizations seek out the media during the 'Week of Work Stress'. TNO mainly focuses on the employer side of work stress. It CBS organized the data from the survey by type of occupation, with education at the top. The same data for previous years are not known, the agency said.
In 10,9, 2021 percent of employees with a teaching profession named work pressure as the most important reason for the most recent absenteeism. Teachers in university education, higher education and secondary schools indicated this most often, according to Statistics Netherlands. On average, 6,7 percent of employees cited work pressure as the main cause of reporting sick last year.
The group who became ill from work pressure was then absent for twice as long, compared to all employees who were also absent for other reasons.
complain
Merel (45) is not allowed to complain publicly from her employer, so she does so anonymously today in the FD. She has been working in special education for over twenty years and teaches primary school children with behavioral problems. Her working conditions deteriorate. A lot of work is done with unauthorized persons, there are fewer classroom assistants and if someone is sick, the assistant who is still there is put in front of the class.
You eat in between with the children, there is no time to catch your breath
Merel also calls the division of the working day 'increasingly tougher': 'You work from eight to five. You eat in between with the children, there is no time to catch your breath. That used to be different.'
The fact that education is at the top of the list in 2021 may also be related to corona. A lockdown took place during the period that TNO is asking about the working conditions. “It could be that hybrid working, for example, played a role, but we have not specifically asked about that,” said Luuk Hovius, researcher and spokesperson for CBS.
mental strength
It is the ninth time that trade association OVAL*OVAL is the trade association for occupational health and safety services, intervention companies, consultancy firms in the field of outplacement and career guidance and career coaching, reintegration companies and job coaching organizations organizes the so-called Work Stress Week. The week should be a kick-off for 'a platform for co-creation and participation in the field of work stress and mental strength'. website from OVAL.
People often choose education with great motivation, but you have to be able to persevere
In the meantime, not enough is changing in the workplace, TNO concludes on Nu.nl: 'Employers are still unable to cope with the high workload'. Unfortunately, this is also the case in education AObchairman Tamar van Gelder: “With this workload you keep chasing people out of education. People often choose education with great motivation, but you have to be able to persevere. We will never be able to tackle the teacher shortage in this way. The classes have to be smaller, because the workload has to be reduced."
Also read: 'Secondary education staff often suffer from burnout'
