Our school system is broken and I blame the Tories

Goodbye to education. I have been a teacher for five years, in that time I have worked at three schools, I have worked for nine headteachers, seen the arts get sidelined and squeezed, and unimaginable cuts. The education system is broken.

Of the nine headteachers I have worked for, some were more suited to the role than others, but all of them were passionate about education. However, there is an instant result culture, driven by data in education. This is similar to football managers, with headteachers being forced out and not given time to succeed.

I feel very scared for the arts; they have been continually sidelined and under supported. School Leadership Team members push students into humanities and languages, rather than allowing them to follow their passion in the arts. Again, this is because of data and league tables. There is no consideration for what the student wants/needs. Education is about offering a wide range of subjects. This will not happen with schools cutting the arts. If they want the good PR of a Christmas concert or a musical, they need to support to arts to make it happen.

The academy system does not work, it allows for people in governance to misuse public funds, provide poor governance and be corrupt (all things I have experienced). This is because there is not enough accountability for academies. Schools need to be brought back under local authority. Schools should not be run as a business with students being called “stakeholders”. Not all schools have had the poor financial management of my school. But all schools are being forced into debt by the systematic underfunding of the education system by the Tory government. Schools are not replacing leaving staff and making redundancies, which has resulted in bigger class sizes and a poorer education experience for the students.

I am leaving for my own personal reasons, but I am leaving an education system I feel so passionately about. There must be a huge overhaul of the education system. We need to turn our back on the data system as personal development cannot be measured in numbers. We ultimately need to “get the Tories out” to help save our schools.

I wish everyone who is in education good luck, I think you’re going to need it. Francis Short Address supplied

BBC men should take a pay cut

It would be good to see male employees at the BBC accept the same pay as women, rather than have licence-payers shell out loads of money to raise the salaries of women to equal that of men. They all earn way above the average pay of workers and none of them would suffer hardship by equalising pay in this way.

Betty Harris London N1

Why don’t the men take a cut in salary which gives them the same as women? The difference could then be put towards some decent programmes. Forget the “presenters,” let’s go back to commentators who are voices and not screen hugging “stars”, and cut the constant background music – more savings. There you are – easy peasy – sorted!

Maggie Barker South of England

Food bank inequality

Safeeyah Kazi asks how Theresa May can claim that “inequality is down” (I visited a food bank this week to see how true Theresa May's slogans about inequality really are, Monday) when more people than ever are having to depend on food banks. Alas, I suspect that in Theresa May’s eyes, more people having to use food banks may be a sign of reduced inequality – after all, it does suggest a certain levelling of the playing field.

Julian Self Milton Keynes

We must all oppose the arms trade fair

Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, wants to ban the Defence and Security Equipment International (DSEI) arms fair – the biggest in the world – from taking place in London in September, but he doesn’t have the power to stop it. As extraordinary-ordinary citizens of the UK, none of us has the power to stop the DSEI fair taking place, but we do have the right to protest about it. As an older woman who took direct action for women’s rights and environmental rights in the 70s, that’s exactly what I plan to do, and I’m not alone.

Mr Khan, you may not have the power to ban the DSEI arms fair, but like the rest of us, you do have the right to protest about it if you choose to do so, and to bring it under public scrutiny in the process.

Rina Vergano Bristol

We need Tories in our progressive Brexit alliance too

Some of yesterday’s letters passionately underscored the despair that many of us feel over Brexit. But we need to recognise that Jeremy Corbyn is potentially unreliable on this issue, as on many others. It appears that he didn’t make a commitment to write off student debt. It’s also becoming clearer that he didn’t really make a commitment to fight hard Brexit. With smoke and mirrors he seems to have generated his very own Nick Clegg moments. He will never be forgiven if he allows his natural, life-long antipathy to the EU to colour his judgement in the months ahead.

If we are to achieve a fairer society, and a sane and soft Brexit, the battleground lies within the divided Conservative party. The grown-ups, Hammond, Rudd, Ruth Davidson in Scotland, and the many moderate backbench MPs, need to rise up now and take on the appalling trio of Johnson, Davis and Fox, and, indeed, our vision-deprived Prime Minister.

Talk of a transition period offers a ray of light, and a way to diffuse the ticking time-bomb of Article 50. This could be the route to common sense, eventually a Norwegian-type solution, or, at the very least, continued membership of the Customs Union. But, it’s within the Conservative Party that these issues will be decided. Moderate Conservatives must work with Liberal Democrats and mainstream Labour MPs on this and many other issues. If we cannot persuade moderate pro-European Tories to come out fighting, the

whole battle may be lost. John Gemmell Birmingham

Corbyn is letting us down

Jeremy Corbyn has confirmed that a Labour government would take the UK out of the single market, in effect dashing the hopes of those, especially young people, who turned to Labour in the recent election in the hope that it might choose to reverse Brexit. But that may not be the end of the story. Reversing austerity and many other Conservative policies is more important to Labour than Brexit. Given that a future Labour government would be dependent on support from the Lib Dems and the SNP, it would not be to deny the “voice of the people” to campaign on the basis of leaving the single market, but to be forced to accept the impossibility of enforcing it once in power.

Patrick Cosgrove Shropshire

Cancer can be a ‘battle’

I’m a cancer survivor (still on chemo), and Anthony Wilson’s most sincere and thoughtful sentiments (Obama's tweet to John McCain about his diagnosis was the last thing cancer survivors wanted to see, Monday) differ from mine significantly. I generally avoid “war words,” so I never considered that “battle” “hands responsibility for recovery to the patient.” Some medical studies show that the patient’s frame-ofmind contributes to treatment success, so the patient is “involved” with a team of medical professionals, adjunct care providers, and mental, emotional, social and spiritual supporters. So yes – I had a role in my survival; no – I wasn’t solely responsible.

Through the surgeries, hospital stays, chemotherapy, radiation and chemo pills, it felt like a battle throughout my body! I inhaled the cliche that “I have cancer; cancer doesn’t have me!” It wasn’t about “only ‘strong’ or ‘deserving’ patients survive” ... in fact, Wilson’s correlation of “battle” with “strong [and] deserving” puzzles me. I agree that “there is absolutely nothing romantic” about cancer; there is no inherent correlation between ”battle“and ”romance.“

As for “Obama’s tweet,” a former President (Obama) sent a message to a former soldier, ex-prisoner-ofwar, and hero (Senator McCain). The sender used a frame-of-reference natural to the receiver. In recognising this, not only was Obama’s message supportive, it honoured and respected McCain’s many accomplishments in terms McCain understands.

Travelling the cancer journey myself, knowing Obama’s and McCain’s backgrounds, Obama’s message brought tears as I read those encouraging, honourable, and respectful words: “John McCain is an American hero & one of the bravest fighters I’ve ever known. Cancer doesn‘t know what it’s up against. Give it hell, John.” I believe Obama’s tweet was spot on; the honour, respect, and collateral support and encouragement is precisely what I – a cancer survivor – want to see!

Judy Bamberger O’Connor, Australia