Teachers must put aside their own needs to focus on pupils

THE living-in-a-cosy-bubble teachers are already making noise about guarantees they expect before going back to school in September. They would be better employed putting pupils at the foremost of their concerns.

Perhaps a memo should be sent to all teachers that if it came to a standoff or ‘industrial dispute’, which sounds more posh, then they would not get paid by the taxpayer.

This is never in the minds of teachers and their leaders, because they are the special ones, not the children, and demand to be paid under all circumstances, because they are not just factory workers, you know. It might sharpen their focus somewhat to learn parents expect that their youngsters need to be in school. It cannot be in the exclusive gift of teachers that this takes place.

Everyone is duty-bound when all safeguards are in place in our schools. Get on with it. ROBERT SULLIVAN,

Bantry, Co. Cork.

No French connection

THE Government says Monaco is on the green list of countries we can visit. But Monaco does not have an airport; the nearest airport is in Nice, France. France is not on the green list, so how do we get to Monaco?

KARL SHANAHAN, Limerick.

Football is offside

I AGREE with Ian Ladyman, who says it’s time football spoke out about the treatment of workers from Asia and sub-Saharan Africa engaged in building the infrastructure for the 2022 World Cup (Sportsmail). International players and coaches have it in their gift to improve the treatment of these workers.

They should tell their football associations and Fifa that they have no intention of engaging in the qualifiers or travelling to Qatar for the World Cup unless there are immediate improvements in the treatment of these workers, plus redress for the families of those who have been killed or injured.

It’s time for football to show it is serious about tackling racism and modern-day slavery.

TERRY KELLY, by email. ...SPORTING bodies should not be courting regimes that condone inequality. They should not hold their high-glamour, high-finance events in these countries.

It is not the responsibility of the individual sports people to highlight these circumstances, but is down to the sporting authorities.

However, it appears they are prepared to turn a blind eye because of the money at stake.

NICK SMITH, by email.

Leave home workers be

THOSE who accuse home workers of not really working should not judge them by their own standards. Many parents have had no option during the pandemic but to work from home because grandparents who provide childcare have been prevented from doing so and nurseries were shut.

In a previous job, I worked largely from home for several years. I was less formally dressed than on the days I went into the office, but always had my hair and make-up done because I have pride in my appearance.

Interaction with colleagues is perfectly possible with technology. During the pandemic I worked from home for 16 weeks and despite being contracted for five hours a day, I clocked up more than 80 additional hours of work to cover other staff who had been furloughed. My daughter has been home-based in her job for several years and, due to her diligence and quality of work, has been promoted to a significantly more prestigious role.

While we are told that having many workers at home impacts on retail businesses in commercial areas, it’s not so long ago that home working was being encouraged as a way to reduce emissions from transport. We can’t win. KAREN CARTWRIGHT,

by email.