MORE teachers will leave the profession unless improved working conditions is placed high on the political agenda, unions have warned, amid concerns that educational staff are being “burnt out” working additional unpaid hours.
The National Education Union’s joint district and branch secretary in the Island, Adrian Moss, warned that the current situation was resulting in “high levels of stress, anxiety and sickness within staff”.
NEU Jersey said data in the most recent Jersey Schools’ and Colleges’ Survey 2025 and the 2019 and 2021 Jersey Teachers’ Surveys, showed staff are “regularly reporting between 51 hours to 53 hours on an average week, representing a saving [of] over £20 million for the employer in unpaid work”.
“If the incoming States Assembly want to retain and attract teachers then this needs to be addressed as a matter of urgency.”
Mr Moss said that it was important for the government to take into account “just how much additional work is being done in education which isn’t recognised”.
“What happens is, when those individuals are burnt out, that then means within the school other people are having to support them to try to support the students – because everyone wants to make sure the students have got the best opportunity,” he said.
He described this as “a cycle that leads to more and more workload” and warned that failure to improve the situation would mean the Island would continue to see “high levels of stress, anxiety and sickness within staff”.
“At the end of the day, the working conditions of teachers reflect the learning conditions of students,” Mr Moss continued.
NASUWT negotiating secretary Marina Mauger echoed Mr Moss’s comments and added: “We have to make sure that we get the best deal that we can for teachers in terms of work, time, life balance – it’s just not happening at the moment.”
The Jersey Schools’ and Colleges’ Survey 2025 states that “at the time of the last survey in 2021, government teachers reported working on average 52.9 hours per week (54 in primary, 52 in secondary and 55 in special schools).
“The averages for teachers in 2025 were slightly lower, at 52.6 in primary, 49.5 in secondary. 48 in special and 50.6 hours per week overall.”
