By politics.co.uk staff

The Conservatives have expressed concern over the number of teachers off sick, which they claim reaches 15,000 every day.

The Tories” target=”_blank”>text claim that last year, over 300,000 teachers – more than half the workforce – accounted for the loss of almost three million working days due to sick leave.

They claim the latest figures show an increase of 400,000 days of sickness absence since 1999, with the number of days lost rising from 2.5 million to 2.9 million.

The average number of days sickness per teacher has also risen from 5.1 to 5.4, while the percentage of teachers taking sick leave has risen from 54 per cent to 57 per cent.

The Conservatives claim schools have to pay a minimum of £103 pounds a day and up to £210 pounds a day for supply teachers when faced with ill staff.

Shadow children’s secretary Michael Gove commented on today’s figures, claiming: “It’s very worrying that the number of sick days has risen so dramatically.

“The government needs to investigate the reasons so we can make sure there is as much stability as possible in every child’s education.”