TEACHERS TOOK MORE than 3,400 days of sick leave over the past two school years because of assaults that took place in the workplace.

Figures from the Department of Education show that 1,724 days were lost in the 2024/2025 school year because of attacks on teaching staff.

A further 1,689 were logged in the 2025/2026 school year up until the end of May with figures for June still unavailable.

The department data showed that “leave of absence following assault” was far more prevalent among primary teachers.

In primary schools, there were 3,267 days lost as a result of attacks on staff during the past two school years.

That compared to just 146 at post-primary level, according to figures released under Freedom of Information.

Overall, there were more than 622,000 sick days taken by teachers at primary and post-primary level in the 2024/2025 school year.

For the most recent school year, the comparable figure was just over 611,000 but will be higher as it does not include June 2026.

The Department of Education said “occupational injury leave” had become available to teachers in May 2025.

Since then, injuries suffered while working have accounted for almost 2,700 days of absence, mostly in primary schools.

Overall, for the past two school years, more than 980,000 days of certified illness leave were taken by teachers at primary and post-primary level.

A further 93,000 days were taken for self-certified illness, according to the data.

The Department of Education said it did not hold more granular information on illness, for example for areas like mental health.

It said this information may be held by individual schools but was not held centrally.

The department said there were nearly 152,000 days of absence for pregnancy-related illness, more than two-thirds of them among primary teachers.

It said the overall figures covered primary and post-primary education but did not include teachers employed by Education and Training Boards (ETBs).

Asked about the figures, a Department of Education spokesperson said an occupational health strategy was in place for all schools.

They said: “The aim of [this] is to promote the health and wellbeing of employees in the workplace, with a strong focus on prevention.”

It said advice was provided on wellbeing, bereavement, conflict and mediation while short-term counselling was also available.

An employee assistance service was also in place with a dedicated freephone confidential helpline available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.