European Trade Union Committee for Education

APRES COVID: European Sectoral Social Partners in Education Addressing Psychosocial Risks for an Equitable and Sustainable recovery from the COVID-19 crisis  APRES COVID is a two-year social dialogue project, seeking to assess the long-term impact of the COVID crisis on the psychosocial risks in the teaching profession and actively promote an equitable and sustainable education-led recovery. The initiative is carried out by the ETUCE and EFEE in partnership with education trade unions and employer organisations from Belgium, Malta, Portugal, and Slovenia. The project features three case-study visits, a training seminar, and a final conference.  

• Context
• Research
• Case-study visits
• Training seminar
• Final Conference

The health, economic, and social crises sparked by the COVID-19 pandemic had an unprecedented transformative impact on European education systems, work relations and working conditions in education across Europe.  

The changes triggered by the COVID crisis contributed to reinforcing existing issues and pushed the emergence of new occupational hazards, with psychosocial risks in the teaching profession emerging as urgent challenges.  

Already in the pre-pandemic period, education workers were highly exposed to psychosocial risks due to multiple stress factors such as heavy workload, extended working hours, exposure to violent behaviours, as well as the social and emotional nature of the profession. Nevertheless, the COVID-19 crisis sorely amplified the stressors associated with psychological risks for education workers. Notably, education was reported as the sector with the highest quantitative demands and most emotionally draining, according to the Eurofound Report Living and Working and COVID-19 (2020).  

In this light, the European Trade Union Committee for Education (ETUCE) and the European Federation of Education Employers (EFEE) have launched the social dialogue project ‘APRES COVID: European Sectoral Social Partners in Education Addressing Psychosocial Risks for an Equitable and Sustainable recovery from the COVID-19 crisis. The initiative, led by ETUCE, is to be developed in partnership with education trade unions and employer organisations from Belgium, Malta, Portugal, and Slovenia throughout two years (October 2023-September 2025). The project further aligns with the 2023-2024 Work Programme of the European Sectoral Social Dialogue in Education (ESSDE) Committee, in particular the priority on ensuring occupational health and safety in education.  

Building on the longstanding engagement of the European Sectoral Social Dialogue in Education ESSDE Committee on Occupational Health and Safety in the education sector, the project aims to assess the long-term impact of the COVID crisis on the psychosocial risks in the teaching profession and actively promote an equitable and sustainable education-led recovery. The project unfolds through a series of activities, including a survey among ETUCE and EFEE members, three case-study visits, a training seminar, and a final conference. Additionally, the project aims to assess the effectiveness and the implementation of the Joint Practical Guidelines on How to Promote Joint Social Partner Initiatives at European, National, Regional and Local Level to Prevent and Combat Psychosocial Hazards in Education (2016).