FOI Request - Teacher Absences and Resignations Due To Covid

Request 101002966569

I am aware Public Health Scotland has figures for Covid absences in the education sector, but I want to look specifically at how many teachers have quit or been absent for a long time in schools (primary and secondary) in each local authority area due to Covid.

I am aware this has been a concern over the last two years, but I am just trying to get an idea of how many teachers in Scotland have left the profession in the last two years due to Covid complications - for example if they have caught long Covid and struggle to work, or if they cannot afford to be exposed to the virus because of living with a vulnerable relative etc.

The data I am looking for is the total amount of teachers who have left the profession in each local authority area due to long Covid alone between March 1 2020 and January 17 2022. If you could provide this data and include the date/month/year of when they left due to the illness, the would be great.

And then a separate figure showing how many teachers have left the profession due to other Covid-related complications - this could include the risk of living with elderly relatives or the impact of lockdown on mental health - between March 1 2020 and January 17 2022 - also including the date/month/year when they left.

If there are figures showing how many teachers have had to take long-term sickness leave because of Covid (more than two weeks) between March 1 2020 and January 17 2022, it would be great if you could include those too.

If you could break this information into how long a period the teacher had or has had to take - such as around 2 weeks, around 3 months, around 6 months etc, or whichever way suits the data - that would be great.

Response 14-02-22

This information is not held, as the Council does not record reasons cited for leaving teaching posts. This information therefore falls under Section 17 of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 - Information Not Held.