Editorial: Are teachers really all that hard done by?

One change the teaching unions definitely do not want to see is the Local Government Association's proposal to switch schools to a six-term teaching year (Education News, p9). Under the plans, the number of teaching days would remain constant, but with a fixed Easter break sitting alongside holidays in February, May, October and December.

According to the NASUWT, the six-week summer holiday should remain sacrosanct, since it's the "last real perk" for professionals who have very stressful jobs. No one is going to deny the valuable and, difficult work that teachers do. However, such statements are bound to raise eyebrows among the many other non-teaching professionals who work with children. Are teachers' working lives really more stressful than those of social workers or health professionals? How many teachers get called out in the middle of the night or on weekends? How often do teachers have to go to court to justify their everyday working decisions? None of these get a six-week break in the middle of the year, along with shorter breaks at other times.