System 'failing' as school staff injured at work forced to take leave

'The children are not to blame,' said INTO general secretary John Boyle. 'But teachers cannot be expected to manage crisis situations alone.' File Picture: iStock

Hundreds of school staff have been forced to take leave from their jobs in recent years due to physical injuries they sustained in the classroom or on the schoolyard.

Assault leave has been granted at least 1,700 times since 2020 to teachers and special needs assistants (SNAs) physically injured in the course of their duties.

At least 97 teachers and SNAs working in primary or special schools were left out of work for three months or longer on extended leave following the injuries they sustained.

SNAs make up the vast majority of staff injured. Since 2020, some 1,240 SNAs have been granted assault leave, including 295 this year to the end of October.

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The figures, released under a parliamentary question to Sinn Fein’s education spokesman Darren O’Rourke, are likely to be an understatement as the data does not include staff employed by Education and Training Boards (ETBs).

"These figures are stark,” Mr O’Rourke said. “They are a reflection of the real challenges in our schools. 

"The strict limits on paid leave and the lack of financial support for medical expenses show a system that fails those injured at work. This must change.

“This means not only enhanced leave and financial support for recovery, but also a dramatic increase in resources, including in special education, to ensure children and staff are fully supported while at school."

Harm 'may well be unintentional'

Andy Pike, education spokesperson with Fórsa, the union representing SNAs, said injuries are often underreported.  

“They don’t count occupational injuries that arise through the course of working with a student, where the SNA isn’t willing to basically state that the student they work with has assaulted them because the harm may well be unintentional." 

For example, an SNA may be injured on the schoolyard by an “over-enthusiastic” student who pulls them to the ground.

“They are very reluctant to categorise that as an assault, and at the moment they get nothing [in terms of leave]. It's something that really does need to be looked at.” 

Irish National Teachers Organisation (INTO) general secretary John Boyle said: "The current system is failing our teachers emotionally, financially, and professionally. Far too many teachers are being left to cope alone after traumatic incidents.

We must be clear. The children are not to blame. But teachers cannot be expected to manage crisis situations alone." 

In response to the parliamentary question, education minister Hildegarde Naughton said the Department of Education is currently reviewing the terms of the assault leave scheme with the education partners.