Gary Punler of Palmerston North has left his role as West End School principal after 18 years on the job.

Wednesday will be the final day of Palmerston North principal Gary Punler's almost four decades' long education career.

A heart attack last year forced him to re-evaluate the West End School leader's place in the profession, concerned work-related stress had contributed to the health event.

The 58-year-old filled out his third New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa survey when he recognised his morale and enthusiasm for the job had fallen to an all-time low.

He was one of 370 primary and secondary teachers and principals who decided to leave the profession last year.

READ MORE:

* People urged to show support for teachers' strike

* Education funding boost unlikely to sway teachers voting on strike action, union says

* Survey reveals primary school principals are overworked and struggling to sleep

"I just got to a point where I wondered why I was there. Most principals want to be involved in developing the curriculum for their kids, they want to involved in improving the teachers' ability to teach, they want to be more involved in their children's learning."

But more time was spent on administration, he said.

"It was pretty clear to me that there was a strong indicator that my work could be causing some significant stresses and I didn't want to risk having another one [heart attack]."

CAMERON BURNELL/STUFF NZEI Te Riu Roa president Lynda Stuart said New Zealand was losing passionate, quality teachers.

He said Government reviews promised reductions in workload, but he was concerned there would be increases to workload "in other areas we just don't know about yet".

While a passion for young people led him into the profession, the expectations of both teachers and principals had become unmanageable over the last decade.

"The weight of what people expected you to do was just getting too much."

NZEI, in conjunction with secondary teachers' union Post Primary Teachers' Association (PPTA), released the results of surveys from those who decided to quit the profession on Monday.

Work/life balance, high workloads and pay were the main reasons for leaving.

The NZEI survey showed 30 per cent of teachers and principals had decided to make the move to a non-teaching job. The highest contributing factor to leaving was high "high workload", followed by pay. The main reason for most was a want for better work/life balance. Full-time workers made up 82 per cent.

MONIQUE FORD/STUFF PPTA president Jack Boyle said there needed to be solutions to see "crisis level" shortages disappear, which involved recruitment of experienced New Zealand teachers.

The unions said less than 10 per cent of the teachers surveyed intended to return to the profession.

NZEI Te Riu Roa president Lynda Stuart said New Zealand was losing passionate, quality teachers. She said teachers and principals needed to be paid properly and given time to teach and lead "or watch the teacher shortage increase exponentially".

PPTA president Jack Boyle said there needed to be solutions to see "crisis level" shortages disappear, which involved recruitment of experienced New Zealand teachers.

"Watching the spark go out in an awesome young teacher's eyes is heartbreaking."