Wait till you hear latest insane idea on schools which will make taxpayers blood boil | UK | News

The scourge of the four-day working week in the public sector is being felt hard in the country, and taxpayers will once again be the losers. Campaigners and unions now want schools in England and Wales to be open four days a week instead of five, and parents are right to start.

This latest development comes on the heels of South Cambridgeshire District Council’s recent decision to allow its staff to work four days a week but still be paid for five days a week. After a two-and-a-half-year trial, and despite declining performance in some key areas, the Liberal Democrat-controlled council finally decided to adopt it as a permanent policy earlier this year.

Predictably, there are now rumors of other councils across the country looking to do the same. Supporters say there should be no objections if the same amount of work is done and service standards are maintained.

But taxpayers should not accept the line that services are just maintained, we must press for services to improve and it is hard to see how this can happen if staff work less in a week. There is always room for improvement as you will know if you have already dealt with your local council regarding any issue.

These aside; The decision by the 4 Day Week Foundation to write to education minister Bridget Phillipson asking for schools to be able to implement a four-day working week or, as it puts it, “test alternative programmes”, will have profound consequences for working parents, guardians and grandparents. A cursory look at any online parenting forum makes clear the impact such pilots can have.

Childcare costs in the UK are already astronomical and will only increase if those responsible for the child’s care have to find more money for an additional day. Add to this the added stress of transporting a child or children to be cared for elsewhere during the week, and those most affected will be employees who are already under pressure.

One of the main reasons why campaigners are calling for a four-day week in schools is that they say it would help recruit and retain teachers. They say such a measure would also help reduce teacher “burnout.”

I’m not here to attack teachers, but this latest proposal will see taxpayers’ patience weaken even further, given the gold-plated pensions teachers deserve, along with the well-above-average holiday weeks most of us can only dream of.

The concept of the four-day working week is becoming a cult in the public sector and must be properly challenged. In Scotland, the Scottish government last month outlined proposals for a ‘flexible’ four-day teaching week that would allow teachers to spend one less day a week in the classroom, preparing or marking lessons instead.

While this may not seem too radical, it gives a clear idea of ​​the direction of travel. It is impossible not to see that accepting the proposition that people should be able to work fewer hours for the same money does not push the country into further decline.

Despite all the promises that standards will not change and work output will not decrease, I have lived on this planet long enough to know how human nature works and I am convinced that reality will be otherwise. To the government’s credit, they responded to this proposal and similar petitions, saying they had no plans to reduce the school week to four days.

This may offer some consolation to those of us who find the idea ridiculous, but we can rightly conclude that this government does not have a good record of not giving in to the demands of unions or other self-interested campaign groups.

Last month’s Budget outlined many more billions of dollars being poured into public services without any real commitment to reform working practices. The increasing noise in the public sector about working fewer days for the same money is incompatible with the mood of the nation.

At a time when our workers are struggling and struggling with rising food and energy bills, as well as a record-high tax burden, is it surprising that there is little sympathy for those who want to reduce their working week by a fifth and still receive the same amount of money?

This should absolutely not be allowed in our country’s schools or in any organization providing public services to UK taxpayers.