Less Holidays???? No Thank You Mr Salmond

Mr Salmond, I am not impressed. The idea of cutting school holidays to save money is more than flawed, its jaw droppingly silly. It's not for the best of education and it's not going to save money. Tampering the Scottish education system is a risky thing to do and I am afraid Mr Salmond this idea is not worthy of the high standard of education the Scottish nation expect nor deserve.

 

The SNP's great brain wave is to cut school holidays to get better value for money out of teachers wage packets, part of the new cost cutting measures. One itsy bitsy detail the Scottish government may have overlooked, the fact it will cost more money. It really is simple; the more schools are opens, the more the tax payer has to spend on heating, electricity and other supplies. This would completely council out any gains from value for money out of teacher's wages. There are many avenues Mr Salmond and his colleague in education could explore such as transferring two weeks from the summer to the winter holidays which would save on heating and electricity cost or the government could invest in making our schools greener. In whatever case this clearly isn't a very good idea.

 

Another thing the SNP seems to have overlooked, or just couldn't care less about is that teachers and pupils may not be too thrilled. Teachers, who have a very stressful job at the best of time, will have to work longer hours for the same pay. This without a doubt will impact on morale which in turn will impact on teaching. Teachers are an essential part of society, so let's treat them that way. Also it's not only the teachers who won't be happy about this; I can hardly see the pupils being too pleased either. I see it first hand, the longer term times are, the longer the time in between holidays, the more restless and stressed kids become. Stress in term time is a major issue as it affects performance directly, this isn't just a case of wanting more time off, this is a case of psychology. Let me put it into math for you; longer working hours + stressful teachers + stressful pupils = a serious problem in education. Just imagine it was your work place, the boss is getting ratty, your workmates are getting stressed and you've been asked to cancel you hard earned holiday, I don't think you'd be too happy. It's the exact same for schools and Mr Salmond does not seem to grasp that. In my view these decisions need to go back to the drawing board before they can do damage to out education.