WHILST having a lot of sympathy for teachers in today's classroom, the hours they claim they have to put in, 70 hours a week, is their own fault.

Either they have useless Unions who fail to negotiate decent working hours and conditions or they are putting all then pressure on themselves.

They should, in this day and age, have contracts that declare just how many hours they have to work each week. If their contractual hours are say 8am to 4pm daily then if they go home at 4pm and take work with them then that is their own fault.

They should walk out of the school gates at 4pm and not do any more work until they return the next day.

By doing work at home, in their own time, they are making rods for their own backs. Stop going on strike and start working to rule. Do only the hours agreed between the Unions and the education authority. This is the only way you can show you cannot do the work required in your contracts. Striking puts parents backs up and makes enemies not friends. Show the public your work load is impossible by working to rule.

Desmond Magurk

Bolton