The country’s children have been let down by ill-judged teacher strikes

sir – When my wife retired from teaching a few years ago, she was given a small plaque that read: “A hundred years from now it will not matter what your bank account was, the sort of house you lived in or the kind of car you drove. But the world may be a better place because you were important in the life of a child.”

Those teachers who have been on the picket line might consider this. Richard Brown

Heathfield, East Sussex

sir – If a parent prevents their child from attending school for any reason other than sickness, they could face a fine. The teaching profession will say that the child is being deprived of education.

Yet this doesn’t appear to work the other way, when teachers go on strike. Why is that? David Hewitt

Heacham, Norfolk

sir – I heard a teacher on the radio protesting that they work hugely long hours, often more than 60 per week, while not being paid anywhere near enough.

I now see that, in order to earn the standard annual salary, teachers only need to work 1,265 hours a year (report, February 1). I ran my own business for many years, and the standard number of working hours per annum was more than 1,700. Most staff would also work overtime without extra pay.

The claims of the National Education Union suggest that it takes us for fools. Quentin Skinner

Warminster, Wiltshire

sir – When I retired as a teacher, most staff I knew were working between 50 and 60 hours each week, and I was working 60. That translates to 2,340 hours per annum.

The 1,265 hours figure is misleading: no teacher could possibly work those hours and fulfil the terms of their contract. I feel sorry for teachers today, whose workload is enormous even compared with that of my generation. We were fobbed off with promises that pay increases would come when economic circumstances improved. I was still waiting when I left the profession. Derek Graham

Stockton-on-tees, Co Durham

sir – Most of those who have been striking – be they railway workers, teachers, NHS staff or firemen – are being offered pay rises of about 5 per cent.

It is true that inflation is currently double this amount but it will fall over the coming year. Wage increases will not.

Post-pandemic, Britain simply cannot afford double-digit pay rises, and the unions know this. Their Left-wing bosses are motivated as much by politics as by the interests of their members, many of whom do not support industrial action.

For these reasons, the Government must stand firm. Robin Nonhebel Swanage, Dorset