Nearly half of school principals and deputy principals are experiencing burnout at a rate almost double that of the average working population. 

 That is according to a new report from the National Association of Principals and Deputy Principals. 

This morning, the association’s president Anton O’Mahony explained to Newstalk Breakfast that principals and deputy principals across the country are becoming overworked with duties outside of the job description.  

Principals burnout

 “Over 45% of school leaders are experiencing burnout.

“We are becoming overburdened and overworked with administrative duties and compliance, rather than the teaching and learning elements for which we were originally qualified.

“We spend our time really working on things like managing the building, managing finances, managing staffing and HR [human resources], and managing a lot of compliance related areas.

“That all takes up a lot of time and leads to the burnout."

According to Mr O’Mahony, many principals and deputy principals are reporting that they are working in excess of 50 hours per week.  

“If, for any reason, you are called to do other duties during the school day, or dealing with students and staff, which is the work we wish to be doing, then you have to stay back and do the administration.

“There is a lot of compliance required."

Administrative supports 

Mr O’Mahony said that the main skillset of principals and deputy principals is under strain and is leading to less time being spent focused on education, which is ultimately impacting on students’ learning. 

“We will be asking for administrative supports in schools.

“People with the specific skillsets in the areas of accounting and building management, for example, will be employed our schools in order to do that kind of work.

“Our primary function as school leaders is to lead learning.

“The issue we are having at the moment is that the vast majority of our time is going in to managing the organisation." 

Written by Dylan Hand