Target tsunami creates too much stress for teachers.

Summary:

An increasing number of teachers is quitting their jobs. The cause, according to delegates at the National Union  of Teachers conference; stress. 41.5% Of the teachers consider themselves highly stressed, making it the most stressful profession, with some even considering suicide. The conference reports a meteoric rise in work-related stress because teachers need to meet the high demands of the government. The increased workload is mainly caused by an increase of form filling. To blame is the “target tsunami” by the government. Many teachers, heads and deputes are working 50 hours or more outside the workweek. Most of the time is not spend on teaching but bureaucratic procedures.

Comment:

A problem that is not only occurring in the UK but also in other countries. In my opinion there are several things really wrong with the current state of the education system, this being a big one. Especially the cause of the whole stress problem is unnerving. The government just keeps setting targets and procedures to get better results, but they tend to ignore the problems they cause. Especially in a slow-environment in which everything goes for millions of teachers and students, the government keeps changing and adding more and more target, rules and demands without giving time to the system to adapt.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2011/apr/25/stress-drives-teachers-out-of-schools