The vast majority of primary school principals are working large amounts of overtime, struggling with limited resources and huge demands, and some are "just surviving".
Levels of stress and burn-out among school leaders are higher than the general population. Many are working extra hours with no pay, working through the holidays and struggling to sleep because of the demands of the job - all putting their health and personal lives at risk, a new report released today said.
The Principal's Health and Well-being Survey 2016, commissioned by primary sector union the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI), spoke to 398 principals (20 per cent) across the country, and 14 deputy and assistant principals.
It found 72 per cent work more than 51 hours per week, and 25 per cent work more than 61 hours during term time.
And contrary to popular opinion about teachers and their excess holidays, 92 per cent reported at least 10 hours, and half of respondents reported working more than 25 hours, during school holidays.
"Anyone who thinks that teachers are in it for the holidays is absolutely totally wrong," NZEI president Lynda Stuart said.
"If that was the case we would have a queue of people miles long to do the job, and [the media] wouldn't be reporting staff shortages."
Principals "spend a vast amount of that time doing the work they need to do for their pupils", she said, including training and preparing for the term ahead.
Most teachers and principals will have been back at work for two weeks, she said.
The report found burn-out was 1.7 times the general population, and work-family conflict 2.2 times higher. This rose higher again in rural and isolated areas where less professional support is available.
Principals pointed the finger at the sheer quantity of work they have to do as the main cause of their elevated stress levels, followed by a lack of time to focus on teaching and learning - a key Government focus - and the impact of Government initiatives.
"[Principals] spend very long hours at work, both during term time and during term breaks," the report said.
"The number of hours worked appears to have no relation to salary."
School leaders seemed driven by a desire to see schools running effectively, it said.
However, some in the job were "just surviving".
"Principals experience high levels of emotional demands and emotional labour when compared to the general population," the report said.
"This correlated with higher levels of burnout and stress symptoms."
Stress was reported at 1.8 times the general population, and problems sleeping reported at 2.4 times higher.
Women in particular reported "significantly higher" rates of burnout and problems sleeping than their male counterparts.
However, it noted that most principals and school leaders had a healthy alcohol intake, and did not take to the bottle to manage stress.
"Too many participants are working too many hours," the report concluded, adding that it was having the greatest toll on their families.
"This level of demand is dangerous to the long-term health and well-being of principals who find consistently that the resources available to them are not concomitant with the demands," it said.
"The cost to the nation of the mental health challenges produced by this kind of work culture is high."
The results were worrying, Stuart said.
"The report found that school leaders face considerable pressure in their roles, most often from increasing workload caused by new Government initiatives," she said.
"The stress of trying to budget to meet the needs of every student despite increasingly inadequate funding must also play a part."
The situation was "not sustainable", Stuart said, and was "now a major health and safety risk the Government must address".
