Sir, - Every year at Easter time we have the cuckoo, the chocolate eggs and the teachers whinging about pay. In the past the reasons were stress, class sizes, bullying, new curricula, inconsiderate Ministers, etc. This year it is all of the above and now parity with Garda and nurses' pay. Are they also looking for £1,000 per head in compensation for not working on New Year's Eve 1999?
As one who works in the private PAYE sector, I do not get paid full salary for maternity leave (though I pay full rate PRSI), I do not get between 10 and 15 weeks' paid holidays, I do not get a day's paid leave for every church holiday, mid-term break, school-team-wins-football-championship celebration. I do not finish at 4 p.m., nor is my job and pension guaranteed by the State.
It's true: those who do do, those who don't teach. - Yours, etc., Mary Keegan,
Woodford, Brewery Road, Stillorgan, Co Dublin.