Teachers should be free to disagree with their bullying unions
sir – The British Medical Association has effectively distanced itself from the views of its chairman, Chaand Nagpaul (report, May 20). It is now saying that, while it is impossible to guarantee that reopening schools on June 1 would be without risk, the situation is as safe as it possibly can be.
However, this is not good enough for Kevin Courtney, joint general secretary of the National Education Union (NEU), who has threatened to name and shame head teachers who are prepared to reopen their schools
– a move that amounts to nothing more than hard-left intimidation.
John Ball
Shoeburyness, Essex
sir – Teaching and medicine have always been regarded as vocations.
Compared with the doctors and nurses pursuing their vocations on the front line of the battle against coronavirus, teachers returning to school face a relatively low risk.
Common sense has at times been in short supply during the lockdown, but
I hope teachers have enough of it to ignore the NEU’S list of “more than 100 issues on which their members should seek assurance from their school before returning to work” (report, May 19). Children need to be at school, and teachers should not play truant.
Norman Macfarlane
Kingston upon Thames, Surrey
sir – In what state would Britain now be if, at the end of March, the privatesector supermarkets, food producers and distributors had reacted with the negativity shown by parts of the public sector and their trade unions?
David Coker
Great Easton, Leicestershire
sir – I congratulate the NEU on having achieved a risk-free working environment before the pandemic. I think we should know how it did so.
Annie Bennett
Oving, West Sussex
sir – My daughter, a primary teacher, has attended school to support the children of vulnerable workers and those who have learning difficulties.
On her first morning, the first child to attend rushed into the classroom and put his arms around her, declaring how much he had missed her. How can we expect these children to understand social distancing?
Kay Harte
York
sir – As a teacher in a comprehensive school, I am infuriated by the criticism that has been directed at us, and the claim that private schools are offering a better service (Letters, May 20).
At my school, as in many others, students are also receiving five hours of high-quality lessons every day, across all subjects, many of which are live video lessons. We have been working at least as hard as usual, and are educating our students as thoroughly as possible, marking work and providing feedback throughout the day and at weekends, too.
Richard Bryant
London N16