Asking too much of teachers?

[DomDoesWotHeWants]

It's looking like masks are going to be a requirement in shops and possibly other indoor venues.

Yet teachers are expected to teach - for hours at a time - in confined, poorly ventilated spaces, with no social distancing. They have been told they do not need PPE. If I was still teaching there is no way I'd go into a room crowded with teenagers and not wear a mask at the moment.

Teachers should be allowed as much protection as possible not thrown under a corona bus because Johnson wants them for child care so their parents can go back to work.

I really can't understand why it's going to be compulsory in shops where meetings are fleeting but not in schools which are crowded and have people crammed in for hours.

Does the right of children to go back to school over rule the rights of of school staff (teaching and ancillary) to be as protected as possible?

This means they should be allowed to wear PPE, if they choose, and secondary children should be wearing masks as happens in some other countries. In some countries younger children also have to wear masks in school.

The safety of teachers has been ignored by Johnson and his chums in their urge to get people back to work and the cry of "back to normal" is taken up by those ignorant of the facts about the virus.

Teachers have been made out to be the bad guys almost from the beginning - as can be seen from many bile infested threads on here. They deserve better.

A strike doesn't work without majority public support.

The idea of teachers striking after schools have been closed for majority for 6 months is ludicrous. The unions know it

can resign if they want to

No! You can’t resign your way out of going back in September. You have to go back till Christmas.

Why do people keep sodding well offering that up as a solution?

And a safer job atm Im sure won't exist.

Genuinely?

I can think of many many safer jobs!

Whether one could get them is a fair point but they certainly exist.

The people in my LA decreeing none of my colleagues can wear masks, or the children. are all WFH for the foreseeable, for example. All The LA advisers have stopped visiting schools and CAMHS etc. are doing consultations via Zoom.

And a safer job atm Im sure won't exist
Eh what now? I wouldn't argue it would be hard to move easily into such a job, but my office-based friends are all now working from home which by any standard is a safer job than teaching 30 teenagers indoors during a pandemic

@noblegiraffe obviously you would have to resign within the terms of your contract. Like everyone else.

I wrote to MP on PPE for teachers

I assume it’s because companies fund their own but state would have to fund

Sure there are loads of WFH jobs. I imagine very few employers will be recruiting for these atm. No idea those as haven't looked!

Tbh, strikes don't need majority public support. they need the support of their members. The junior doctors strike didn't have public support.

Teachers are more biddable and passive than MN seems to think, though, and hardly ever strike. What I can see is individual schools raising action via their unions : which could also be non teaching unions.

The same disquiet is going on in America : it really is not unique to the UK.

Openplan since you agree there are plenty of safer jobs, why did you post that a safer job does not exist?

It would be better if schools left the option for teachers to wear it rather than use guidelines to disallow it, issue is schools might then say we need money for that

I also find it amusing when people tell teachers to resign , as if they don't mind if schools are massively understaffed! Where are the mythical replacements going to come from?

I mind if teachers resign. I’d prefer they could wear what they want to feel a bit safer and stay teaching.

The people in my LA decreeing none of my colleagues can wear masks, or the children. are all WFH for the foreseeable, for example.

Absolutely-it does feel very us/them. Like the SLT sadly hidden in offices who seem to rarely see a child, sending out emails telling us all the things we can’t do from September.

I'm so confused by the whole thing.
I am pregnant and have been wfh (and yes, actually working) since March. In the early stages of pregnancy and when the risk was lower. I was told repeatedly that it was too risky and to stay away.
But in September, when I am 32 weeks it will be safe for me to go back to a classroom of 34 y1 pupils, with no ppe and no chance of social distancing?

But I can't get on a bus without a mask and may not be able to go to the supermarket without one.
The whole thing is utterly backwards.

Do teachers in other countries self-fund face coverings or does government pay? Eg Germany / France

I do wonder if the reluctance from our government to mandate is to avoid this issue.

Also what are Scottish teachers doing?

I also find it amusing when people tell teachers to resign , as if they don't mind if schools are massively understaffed! Where are the mythical replacements going to come from?

Don't forget that other industries have a wave of mass redundancies. It's stupid to leave a relatively safe job in the current economic climate.
On the other hand, some of the unemployed could be fast tracked into teaching.

obviously you would have to resign within the terms of your contract. Like everyone else.

Most people handing in their notice today would not still be in their job in December.

It’s idiotic to say ‘you’re worried about September but you only have to do the thing you’re really worried about for three and a half months and then can leave by which point things will hopefully look much better anyway’

I can’t be the only one thinking about the October resignation deadline carefully.

@Mistressiggi

A 'safe' job isn't just about PPE. You also have to consider risk of redundancy. Pension. Salary etc

The country will have thousands more unemployed by end of the year. It's rather offensive to say teaching isn't a safe job imo

@noblegiraffe you have to make a decision that's best for you and your family like everyone else. Hopefully teachers can take comfort from that fact it's their decision to make. Unlike many who are being made redundant with no choice

It's stupid to leave a relatively safe job in the current economic climate.

I’m a maths teacher, do you really think I’ll be short of offers?

You mean you'd leave one maths teaching role and look for another one?

Why?

Noble you wouldn’t be short on teaching offers, but where is better for this issue? Do you mean you’d switch to tutoring or other

ylva : fast tracked, how? Every suggestion in the past such as the shitshow of Troops to Teachers have failed. Are you suggesting teachers don't need qualifications, and wouldn't need training? Way to devalue a whole profession! (which already feels devalued...)

I genuinely don't think the general public believes there is a recruitment and retention crisis.

The ones who don't feel safe can resign if they want to. Although I can't imagine it will be easy to find a new job. And a safer job atm Im sure won't exist
You used safe clearly to mean "safe from Covid" in the first part of your post, but the same word in almost the next line means "safe from redundancy"? Yeah of course it did.

marsha, I think we all know you are right about costs. The DfE simply does not want to foot the cost of PPE . They didn't want to do this in care homes!