PARENTS' mental health and wellbeing has been negatively impacted by disruption to schooling, a survey has found.
The charity Parentkind said urgent action was needed to alleviate pressures faced by adults.
It found that 84 per cent of those who responded to its poll said their wellbeing had suffered.
This compared to 45 per cent of parents in England saying the same.
Seven in 10 said they were more worried now about the impact of the pandemic on their child's education than they were last March when schools first closed.
The survey also asked parents to select the three biggest challenges they faced with schools shut to most pupils.
The top option selected by more than half (56 per cent) was juggling work and home-schooling, followed by `motivating my child to do their work' (51 per cent).
Parents of children with special educational needs were more likely to report a large negative impact on their mental health - 38 per cent versus 26 per cent of non-SEN parents.
Parentkind's Head of Northern Ireland Jayne Thompson said there were stark differences between the impact of current arrangements on mental health in the north compared to England.
"Although there is rightly a lot of talk about regulating children's wellbeing as they return to school, parents need support too," she said.
"Parentkind calls on the government to provide more encouragement to employers to accommodate employees who are juggling work with overseeing their child's remote learning at home. This will be crucial in the event of further lockdowns or periods of pupil self-isolation where there are localised Covid-19 outbreaks in schools.
"We have seen this issue impact most severely on mothers who have been most called-upon to support their child's learning from home. Attention must be given as to how this inequality can be addressed, to alleviate the stress and pressure placed on all families."
Siobhán O'Neill, Interim Mental Health Champion, said the survey highlighted the impact that disruption to schooling had on parents' psychological wellbeing and would be a valuable tool which could be used to underpin departments of health and education strategies.
"It is very concerning that nearly twice as many NI parents have reported a negative impact on their mental health and wellbeing when compared to England. I agree that there is a clear need for employers to consider the provision of additional support for working parents, particularly lone parents, at this time," she added.
