Show some respect

 I've taken this from an article in the Independent  about the education secretary, Nadhim Zahawi's white paper. 

Given the lack of money, Mr Zahawi should show some public acknowledgement of the sheer number of hours teachers put in these days, and how they kept things going during the Covid crisis. He should stand up for a profession that is so often lazily attacked by those who wouldn’t last a term in a modern school.

For far too long, the goodwill and professionalism of teachers have been exploited, and their pay and conditions have fallen further behind comparable groups. This year, with inflation at a 40-year high, Mr Zahawi proposes another large real-terms pay cut, with a further reduction planned for next year.

Rightly, teachers – including those involved in vocational and technical training – will not accept such treatment, simply because they cannot afford to do so. Many will be forced to scale back their commitments or leave the profession; those who stay need incentives to help Mr Zahawi and the nation meet exacting targets. He can harbour as much ambition and produce as many white papers as he wishes, but without teachers, Mr Zahawi will find he can get nothing done.

Far too many of the public think that teaching children is not really that difficult, that teachers work few hours and have excessively  long holiday. They really should do a stint at an inner city school like Anfield where I taught. Whilst some classes were a delight to teach, many were a real challenge in terms of behaviour, aptitude and attitude. 

Add to that, the false notion that a teacher's work ends when the bell rings. Pupils work does not mark itself nor do those lessons prepare themselves and regular reports to parents take many long hours to compile. It is no wonder that,  many who enter the profession, leave after a short time.