Teachers should not be spending their evenings and weekends responding to emails from pushy parents, the Education Secretary will say today.

Damian Hinds is to urge teacher to shun the “huge volume” of emails they receive from mothers and fathers outside of the school day, adding that technology should be making their lives easier rather than adding to their workload.

Speaking at Bett, an annual trade show in London for educational technology products, he will say: "Education is one of the few sectors where technology has been associated with an increase in workload rather than the reverse. And let's think why.

"Back when I was at school there was an annual parents evening and a report at the end of the year. Maybe a letter home if there was a school trip.

"That report still happens and so does the parents evening, but email has revolutionised parent-teacher communication. Email hasn't replaced much - mostly it has just added.”

Mr Hinds will tell an audience of technology company bosses and school leaders that more than half of teachers' time is spent on non-teaching tasks, and workload is one of the most common reasons teachers cite leaving the profession.

"I'm sure none of us now could imagine a life without email, but do we ever stop to think how much of our day is actually spent reading or replying to them?” he will say.