Education Viewpoint: Why we're losing our heads

THE RECENT publication of figures showing a dramatic increase in the number of headteachers taking premature retirement during the last three years come as little surprise to anyone who has been involved with the headteacher circuit recently.

Wherever heads meet, the conversation inevitably turns to the latest gossip concerning those who have managed to gain early retirement and the size of their pensions.

There is every reason to believe that the published figures only represent the tip of the iceberg of headteacher disillusion. They only tell of successful applications for early retirement. They do not take into account those who have made application and been refused.

Nor do they give any indication of the numbers who wish to retire but have not made an application because their local education authorities have made it clear that the money is not available.

Stories abound about the stunts headteachers are prepared to pull to free themselves of the burden of their work. One concerns the head who, after making two unsuccessful attempts to escape, took to writing long rambling letters to his chief education officer while at the same time ensuring that visitors to his office were aware of the half empty whisky bottle and glass on the corner of his desk.

Another refers to the head who secured his early retirement by wandering the school corridors telling staff and pupils the Japanese were coming.

Apocryphal or not, such stories dip into the deep well of resentment that is building up among headteachers. What are the reasons?

A long working week must be one factor leading to premature retirements. The Teachers' Pay Review Body has recently established that secondary school heads work an average 61 hour week and primary heads are not far behind.

This, together with findings that the stress of headship is on a par with that of an airline pilot, is making many heads reconsider the quality of their lives and wonder whether there might be something better.

The pressures on headteachers have increased enormously in recent years. Accountability is the name of the game, but the number of people to whom heads are answerable seems to increase by the week.

Governors have been encouraged to make greater demands on heads at the same time as national curriculum edicts are churned out by the dozen. Local education authorities are supposed to have had their wings clipped, yet the paperwork emanating from these sources seems to increase.

On top of all this, through its devolvement of financial powers to schools, the Government has forced heads to become glorified business managers without giving them any worthwhile training.

Headteachers know only too well that the research shows that their own performance is closely linked to the success of their schools. Unfortunately, they are now being asked to perform well on too many different fronts and are often found wanting because of the size of the task.

These factors - combined with the effects of a government set on denigrating the work of teachers and schools at every opportunity - have put job satisfaction at a premium. The results are now becoming clear.

Even some of those heads who have barely reached the age of 50 are looking for the escape hatch. Such a state of affairs does not bode well for the future education of our children.

The author, head of a London comprehensive school, is writing in a personal capacity.