Madam, - It was wonderful to read Breda O'Brien's piece on teachers, parent-teacher meetings and the current treatment of teachers by the Government (Opinion, January 31st). It was like a breath of fresh air compared with the writings of so many other journalists who, even when claiming to understand teachers' positions, are usually putting the boot into the ASTI at the same time.
It appears that some people think we should be punished (a) for having the temerity to seek a substantial pay rise four years ago; and (b) because some schools, by a decision for which their managements clearly have ultimate responsibility, appear to have broken the terms of "Sustaining Progress". It is not as if any teachers were threatening to strike if they had to work on December 22nd and 23rd, and they will all presumably make up the days before the end of the year anyway.
The sorry saga that has been running since early January is ammunition for those who argued against benchmarking, and is a bad omen for future industrial relations. It is heartening, however, that there is at least one prominent journalist who is able to get to the heart of the matter (on this as on other issues) and is not afraid to take an independent stand. - Yours, etc.,
PAT HANRATTY, Rathfarnham Wood, Dublin 14.
Madam, - Breda O'Brien wonders on behalf of secondary school teachers "why there is little or no public sympathy over parent-teacher meetings outside teaching hours". From whom is she expecting sympathy? Parents? Hardly.
Parents have to take time off work at their own expense to attend these meetings, a fact that does not seem to be appreciated by teachers (who incidentally are given paid leave to attend their own teenagers' parent-teacher meetings).
Ms O'Brien complains that teachers feel unappreciated, yet does not acknowledge that parents can feel very unappreciated by teachers when they turn up at parent-teacher meetings only to find that one or two teachers may be absent and no alternative meeting times arranged.
This is not just "envy of teachers' short hours", as she puts it. Nor is there a lack of appreciation for teachers implementing a new syllabus or teaching new subjects, though I think that teachers might have been more enthusiastic and less begrudging about this. All of us who work are required to improve our skills, adapt to new working methods and, from time to time, to work outside normal hours. Why should teachers be different? Yours, etc.,
GERRY BLAKE, Bohilla Lane, Kilmacanogue, Co Wicklow.