Name for probe into work-related suicides after headteacher Ruth Perry’s loss of life
Professor Martin McKee, from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and University of Leeds professor Sarah Waters made the decision within the British Medical Journal within the wake of headteacher Ruth Perry taking her personal life in January.
Her household believes stress related to an Ofsted inspection contributed to her loss of life.
Caversham Primary School in Reading, the place she labored, was ready for a report back to be printed downgrading it from Outstanding to Inadequate when she died.
“Even though the link between adverse working conditions and suicide is well established, regulations requiring reporting of work-related deaths to the Health and Safety Executive in Great Britain specifically exclude suicides,” the article mentioned.
“While the almost complete loss of confidence in Ofsted is a matter for those in the education sector to address, the health community has a duty to demand action to tackle the burden of mental ill health associated with the way it operates.
“We argue that three bodies need to act now.
“The first is Ofsted itself. It should publicly accept that it has a duty of care to teachers (and to its inspectors, some of whom are also traumatised by the events we have described).”
The two lecturers consider the HSE ought to observe the system in France the place all work-related suicides are investigated.
“In France, for example, if there is even a suggestion of a link between suicide and working conditions, the burden of proof falls on the employer to show otherwise,” they mentioned.
“In the UK we do not even know with certainty how many teachers have killed themselves in circumstances linked to Ofsted inspections, but we are aware of at least eight others.”
A survey carried out in 2022 by the Teacher Wellbeing Index confirmed 78 per cent of greater than 3,000 lecturers reported psychological well being signs they attributed to their work.
“Finally, as Ofsted says that it reports to ‘Parliament, parents, carers, and commissioners’, the Commons education select committee should conduct an urgent inquiry into its impact on the welfare of teaching staff,” the article mentioned.
Simon Kidwell, the vice-president of the National Association of Head Teachers mentioned final month he believes “the framework that underpins the inspection needs redesigning”, declaring that it’s “not fit for purpose and it’s not working”.