WHAT is the bane of not only a teacher's but also a pupil's life?

The too frequent administration of SATs or some such tests, to satisfy the demands of box-ticking while generating unnecessary anxiety in the pupils.

Discretion, once the province of the classroom teacher, has been replaced by imposition from above, thereby rendering the exercise of that particular element in a teacher's repertoire obsolete.

Teachers are no longer trusted to set the targets for their pupils without having someone constantly looking over their shoulders or breathing down their necks to make sure they are doing what they are told.

There should be a real joy in learning coupled with the recognition that with practice comes development to higher levels.

That is clearly the case in the sequential subjects where there can be no development without having mastered the basics and having grasped the foundations to ensure advancement to the more complex areas.

The administration of too many intrusive tests drains the enthusiasm of pupils and deadens the dedication of teachers who no longer feel in control of what needs to be taught in their subjects.

It is time control was restored to the classroom teachers so that they can develop and explore the niceties of their subjects and areas of expertise

Those in the higher echelons of a school's administration should concern themselves with creating the conditions for effective learning so that teachers can perform to the best of their ability and, in so doing, develop the potential of their students.

Currently teachers feel that they are constricted in a metaphorical straitjacket with no room for manoeuvre with its direct adverse consequences upon the teaching atmosphere within our educational institutions.

Lack of trust breeds a lack of confidence leading to soaring stress levels for both teaching staff and pupils.

Denis Bruce,

Bishopbriggs.

AT First Minister's Questions on Thursday (May 16) Nicola Sturgeon advised: "There are more teachers in our schools now than there have been at any time since 2010. There are more primary school teachers in our schools now than there have been at any time since I was at primary school. That is the reality of the progress in our education system"

Translated, that means, of course, that there are fewer teachers now than in 2009. There are some 2,000 fewer teachers in our schools than in 2007.

For six of the eight years when Nicola Sturgeon was at primary school from 1975-1982 there were more primary school teachers than now. For only thwo years of this period were there less. There are now more than 7,000 fewer teachers than in 1975.

Richard Richardson,

Glasgow G42.