A rant……..(you have been warned as it goes on a bit) On the 17th October many schools in my local area will be closed due to the well publicised strike action by the National Union of Teachers. I am led to believe that they want our sympathy and are protesting over changes to the way their performance is measured, the way they are recruited and threats to their pay and pensions. I have also found out that I am lucky in that my daughter’s school will remain open. Others are not so fortunate and the teachers’ self imposed exile will deny many children a days valuable learning and possibly one or both of their parents a days earnings/holiday, as leaving children under 14 years old home alone is illegal. Now I’ve thought long and hard about whether I agree with their awful working conditions, and whether their remuneration and benefits are unfair and have considered the following……… Most teachers work a standard 5 day week, although some, like us in the private sector, will take work home with them. Dealing with children all day is no doubt a fairly stressful affair, as I struggle after just a couple of hours, so in return for this hardship they are rewarded with about 12 weeks holiday a year, plus the odd teacher training day thrown in randomly. Other perks include a salary well above the national average and a pension when they retire sometime in their sixties. There are no plans, as far as I know, for redundancies or wholesale school closures under this government. It is also my assumption that before they began studying for their profession, that they did a little background research on the job description and working conditions, pay and benefits etc. Any less would just ‘not be doing your homework’ (pardon the pun). It can be safe to say then that they chose this path in life and the challenges it would throw at them. Over in the private sector my alarm clock frequently goes off at 5am and sometimes I don’t set foot back inside my front door until after 10pm. A 5 day week can become 6 if ‘business needs’ dictate and dealing with the general public can sometimes make a classroom full of school children seem like heaven. My salary is ok, I get a generous 5 and a bit weeks holiday and this year Theo Paphitis off the tele has promised me my employer is going to start paying into a pension for me……Should be enough there to get the stair lift fitted when I retire in my late seventies. Now I knew all this when I started my job, and if I want to complain about my pay,benefits or pension, my boss will tell me to go and find alternative employment. If my performance dips, I will get sacked……..fair enough I suppose. Rather than complain that I am hard done by though, I am actually quite thankful that I have a job and my company are not making anyone else redundant this year……yet. There are some fantastic teachers doing an amazing job in schools all over the country and our education system is amongst the best in the world……..the way I see it our teachers have 2 choices……..If you don’t like being dragged into the 21st Century and having changes imposed upon you then do yourself and our children a favour by finding a new career (I have a vacancy for a baker….5am start mind?). If you still feel the need to stay and complain then can I suggest that next time you come across a serving member of our armed forces that you let them know how hard done by you are…….and then drop me a line and let me know how you got on This is my opinion…….Please feel free to like/share/comment/delete as you feel appropriate
Posted on: Wed, 09 Oct 2013 17:25:21 +0000
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