Sir, - Are teachers not workers too? Do teachers not have responsibilities outside the workplace?
I feel angry at the suggestion that parent-teacher meetings should take place in the evenings to facilitate working parents. I always thought that the reason parents and others wanted to have parent-teacher meetings outside school hours was to ensure that pupils' learning was not disrupted.
Surely the answer is a proper substitution service to enable teachers and parents to meet during normal working hours, while arrangements are also made for children to be taught?
The experience in my school is that much higher attendances were recorded at early morning parent-teacher meetings than evening meetings and that a system such as the above works very well.
I have never had an appointment to meet a solicitor, dentist or a doctor outside their usual hours, save for strict emergencies.
Let us be more creative in reconciling work and family responsibility - for all. - Yours, etc.,
Joan Whelan, (School principal), Parnell Road, Harolds Cross, Dublin 6.