Being a teacher is no easy job [Independent.ie]
- Published: 12 April 2010
VICTOR Feldman's anti-teacher tirade (Letters, April 9) is a curious mixture of envy, rant and inaccuracy.
The majority of the "perks" that he assumes teachers enjoy simply do not exist.
There is no early retirement scheme. To gain full pension a teacher will have to pay contributions for at least 40 years. Because few teachers gain permanent jobs early in their career (at second level, 52pc under 30 are on part-time contracts) a significant number retire on pensions well below full value.
As for a "short working day", the recent Behaviour and Attitudes survey, as reported in the Irish Independent, shows that second-level teachers work on average 46 hours per week.
Full Story: www.independent.ie
