Covid 19 Part XXXV-956,720 ROI (5,952 deaths) 452,946 NI (3,002 deaths) (08/01) Read OP

I see the media are going with covid outbreaks in prisons. Hmm do people actually give a fk about that? I really don't anyway

There's the big drop that's been coming. Great to see a drop of some sort heading into the bank holiday.

Happy new year folks. A few months ago, I would have bet the house on us being in a much better situation than we are, but that's life I guess.

Wishing everyone a hopefully much improved 2022.

We're all real people behind the usernames, people with real hopes and fears. It's easy to demonise those we think are against our viewpoint. Everybody has their life experiences that have shaped their viewpoint. Hopefully this time next year this part of Boards will be shuttered and we'll be arguing about Garth Brooks concerts or loud exhausts off the neighbour's car :D

Looks like Denmark has peaked. Maxed out at 22,000 cases 3 days ago, reported 17,000 today with ever increasing numbers of tests..

From the perspective of someone who isn't a teacher the statement "I absolutely do consider my summer break a priority" is difficult for most people to get behind as a concept.

I have a small kid who has had their early education severely disrupted. At one point we weren't sure if this was down to his own capacity to learn what he was being taught, subsequent to evaluation that has only concluded recently we are able to rest assured that the problem doesn't lie with him, it was like a great number of his classmates down to the lost time and disruption caused by school closures during lockdown.

This caused significant distress to us as parents and left us unsure of our childs path through his education. As it turns out it was down to lost time, but at least his teacher's precious summer break wasn't effected.

Our older child wasn't as severely affected, having been in school for a number of years already the impact wasn't the same.

Then there are people who have kids with special needs, god only knows the impact they had to endure.

But your summer break is a priority. It's sentiments like the above that people take issue with, you somehow feel that equates to people putting teachers in the same bracket as clampers etc... That isn't one bit true but there are issues that teachers are miles away from the rest of the work force on that make people feel some disconnection from teachers, but the feigning martyrdom that's has been attempted previously on this thread is preposterous in the extreme.

Jesus good to see the absolute vitriol for educators and their holidays (of which their yearly salary takes into account btw) is still alive and strong 😔

Do you think they are all going to stay in their houses if schools close?

Excellent post. I am on day 8 stuck in my bedroom. My views differ to the views of my family with the new restrictions, causing a lot of friction. I’m reasonably positive about next year. Need to see my time out. The knock on effects of COVID are what needs to be tackled in 2022.

Vodafone workers are not paid after 5pm surely? Nor are GPs on Sundays. Teachers are paid right through the year. According to the Irish Times, Irish secondary school teachers work for 33 weeks in the year. That number is 38 in England and 40 in Germany.

I think the issue most people have with teachers is that they have quite good conditions overall yet appear to be the most vocal group in the country about how hard they have it. Lots of workers have it far harder than teachers but just get on with it. Are there aspects of teachers’ jobs that are very difficult? Of course there are. Do teachers do tremendously valuable work? Of course they do. But it is worth remembering that teachers are funded by the State (i.e. the taxpayer) because they have a particularly important function in society (educating our children) in the same way that doctors and nurses have a particularly important function in society. Therefore, whether they like it or not, teachers, by virtue of their position, have a special responsibility to society. If that means teaching for 2 extra weeks in the summer, so be it, in my opinion. Of course you deserve holidays like everyone else but let’s keep things in perspective.

i really don’t want to start an argument. And I do apologise in advance if my comment seems too robust. Happy new year.

According to the OECD Irish Teachers have one of the highest contact times (teach more) than many of their European colleagues, including England and Germany.

Why what? I'm sorry I don't get the question. Also, what extra holidays?

What parents are these? The ones who still have to go to work or are WFH?

A parent who has the time to sit over their child and has nothing else that needs to be done all day is not representative of your average parent.

If people were able to manage themselves all of the time, in theory there would have never been a need for restrictions.

I definitely don't believe that teachers are there to do the job of the parent, but the entire working day and arguably entire life of a parent revolves around the school calendar and has done since ..... well, since almost forever. I actually think this is where schools do need to step up, but I say all of this with my own personal circumstances and lifestyle in mind and I don't expect everyone to agree with me