Sir, With regard to your front page story, Poverty fears over school day proposals (November 18), I would like to point out a couple of things to education officer Donna Manson.
Firstly, the mention of 22.5 hours in a teacher’s contract refers to pupil contact time, it is not their working week.
Secondly, the majority ofprimary pupils give the variety of different teachers in secondary school as one of the things they enjoy when moving up to “the big school”. In the event of a clash of personalities, the break for teacher and pupil while being taught by the visiting specialists is extremely beneficial to both parties.
Thirdly, the 2.5 hours’ reduction in the children’s week will result in the loss of time with the music/art/PE specialists.
No matter how good and competent a primary teacher is, they cannot be expected to be experts in every aspect of education, nor should they be.
This really sounds like the latest example of saving money by getting rid of the visiting specialist teachers. These specialists provide a good grounding in the basics that the classroom teacher can carry on.
How about getting rid of the numbers in higher and middle management first and then seeing what else can be done?
Education has never been a sacred cow as teacher numbers and post have disappeared frequently over the many years I taught. Please tell it as it is, Ms Manson, an excuse for cost cutting nothing more, nothing less.
George Connolly. St Andrews.
Aid is harming not helping
Sir, In 1984 some richpop stars, in response to the Ethiopian famine, formed Band Aid to “save Africa” and 30 years on another bunch has decided to save it again in response to ebola.
Ebola, of course, catches our attention since it can spread here unlike mundane diseases such as pneumonia and diarrhoea or malaria which kills one child in Africa every minute.
Band Aid led to the creation of Africa-focused charities and NGOs on an industrial scale, but these have done little to lift the 40% of sub-Sahara Africa people out of absolute poverty.
The fact is Band Aid’scolonial mindset reinforces negative stereotypes ofAfricans and the sight of wealthy pop stars parading themselves as paragons ofvirtue is crass and offensive.
The eminent Zambian economist Dambisa Moyo argues our obsession with aid harms Africa by fostering dependency, encouragingcorruption and perpetuating poverty.
In her famous book “Dead Aid” she says the path to long-term development will only be achieved through trade, private sector involvement and free market solutions.
Rev Dr John Cameron. 10 Howard Place, St Andrews.
No real answer in the reply
Sir, Having admired Alastair MacLean’s letter about the apparent lack ofprogress in work at the closed Perth Theatre, I found the reply from Magnus Linklater (Chairman of Horsecross Arts) in Wednesday’s Courier a little evasive.
He says “a huge amount of work has been going on behind the scenes to get ready for building work to start over the next 12 months”.
So, nothing’s actually started? Or may not for a year? Except for ongoing planning, which we might have expected to happen before it was deemed necessary to close the theatre?
Most of Mr Linklater’s letter trots out the usual publicity stuff about carrying-on-heroically in alternativevenues.
However, the closure was self-imposed and it looks as if Horsecross Arts don’t care too much how long it is closed for, or how much it costs, or for how long life-long patrons have to go elsewhere.
So, is it still £15 million and when might it be open again?
Neil Foston. 47 Arbroath Road, Carnoustie.
City’s surprise package tour
Sir, If you don’t want to wait for Christmas or an upcoming birthday to get a surprise, why don’t you take a round trip over the Tay Road Bridge? Surprises galore entering the bridge to head to Fife and exiting into Dundee on your return.
Why? How many changes of entry/exit routes have been made just over the past year? I use the bridge most days and I only wish I had kept count.
Each journey is an exciting adventure, especially on a dark night, in the rain, with car and traffic lights flashing, and now we can add Christmas lights to that twinkling mass at the 5pm rush hour.
Surprised? Not really, but I will be when the very, very last entry/exit routes are in place. I’ll probably be well past retirement, though, when that happens. No surprise there then!
Anne H F Lowe. 13 Nelson Street, Tayport.
‘No’ vote not a ‘forever’ result
Sir, I tire of the bleatings of professional unionists pouring scorn on attempts to promote further referenda on the national issue because they see a “no” vote as a “forever” decision. But it isn’t. Whilst you wouldn’t want to have one every week, referenda and elections are merely iterations of the democratic process.
After all, if Scotland had voted for and obtained independence, it would have been perfectly reasonable for dissenters to call for and obtain further referenda in future years to ascertain whether or not the people of Scotland wanted to re-enter a union with rUK.
Or should the result of the next Westminster or Holyrood election be considered as the “settled will of the people” and the result ossified in perpetuity?
John Hein. 78 Montgomery Street, Edinburgh.