Lack of teachers on Guernsey 'leading to stress'

Recruiting and retaining teachers in Guernsey was a challenge due to the lack of available housing and the cost of living, according to Guernsey's local representative for the National Education Union (NEU).

Paul Montague said the worldwide shortage of teachers was felt more acutely in the island, where covering for vacancies was putting "a lot of stress" on existing staff.

Deputy Andrea Dudley-Owen, President of Education, Sport and Culture, said the latest online recruitment campaign was receiving "a really good level of interest".

However, she said the housing crisis remained a problem for teachers, despite help with rent from the government.

Mr Montague said despite the committee for education's efforts, teachers were still feeling the pressure of a shortage of staff.

"We keep hearing positive things," he said.

"We keep hearing that things are getting better but it is often a case of 'jam tomorrow' and we're just waiting to see if that really does come to pass."

He said the knock-on effect of increased responsibility on individuals was leading to staff taking sick leave for stress.

"We know of a number of situations where teachers are having to cover for absent colleagues and they're having to do a lot of extra work. It puts a lot of stress on them," Mr Montague said.

Teachers who relocate to Guernsey from off-island are eligible for rent allowance, if their accommodation costs more than £185 per week.

Mr Montague said in spite of this, the cost of living remained an issue and teaching needed to become a more attractive career in terms of income and working environment, to retain teachers for longer.

He said the high turnover has a negative impact on student attainment.

"One of the major problems we've got in the secondary sector especially in terms of youngsters' progress in any subject is that we've got a massive turnover of teachers.

"Teacher turnover really causes massive problems for youngsters' progress. I speak to youngsters who've really fallen out of love with subjects they struggle with because they don't have that relationship with a teacher."

Ms Dudley-Owen said the education committee's most recent online recruitment campaign, launched in January, was receiving a "really good level of interest".

She said using social media had allowed them to "throw the net much wider" for a lower advertising cost, but the challenges facing teachers who want to relocate persist.

"People fall in love with the island, then they come here and find it's really expensive to live", Ms Dudley-Owen said.

"There are some levers that we can pull. We know relocation and rent allocation is a problem, and the States needs to sort that problem out next term."

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