Perthshire has the worst teacher sickness rate in Scotland, according to a new report that says mitigating the problem could equate to the recruiting of dozens of extra staff.
Public spending watchdogs at the Accounts Commission highlighted staff sickness rates for 2015/16, pointing out these varied from an average of 4.2 days a year in Midlothian Council to 8.7 days a year in Perth and Kinross Council.
If councils with high teacher absences could reduce these to be in line with the top eight performing councils, the auditor general said, they would gain the equivalent staff time of over 160 full-time teachers across the country.
Liz Smith, the Tory education spokeswoman and Mid Scotland and Fife MSP, said: “It’s clearly a concern that teachers in Perth and Kinross are off ill more than anywhere else in Scotland. We need to find out why this is.
“Teacher absences ultimately impact a pupil’s education and it is important that the number of sick days in Perth and Kinross are reduced over the coming years.”
Non-teaching staff take an average of 8.8 days off a year as a result of illness in Aberdeenshire, compared to an average of 14.8 days in the Western Isles, the report stated.
It added: “If councils with high absence levels could reduce these to be in line with the top eight performing councils, they would gain the equivalent staff time of about 650 full-time employees across Scotland.”
Local authorities have seen staff numbers fall by 7% over the past five years – the equivalent of 15,100 full-time posts – with most councils having cut their workforce to help them reduce costs.
A spokeswoman for Perth and Kinross Council said: “The council is committed to promoting the health and wellbeing of all our staff. After several years of reducing sickness absence levels, teachers’ sickness levels increased in 2015/16 due to more medium and longer term absences.
“We continue to support staff who experience ill health, many of whom are able to return to work after treatment and recovery.
“There are robust monitoring and support arrangements in place for sickness absence for all staff groups in the council. If a teacher is off for any reason, there are processes to ensure appropriate class cover is in place to minimise any potential disruption to learning.”
