I have to take issue with the opinion column in last week's Gazette.

Firstly, changing from three terms to six terms of shorter, and still not equal, lengths, is merely a change in terminology.

Secondly, the document circulating does not propose adding a single day to the school year, so the idea that getting through the material will become easier is hard to swallow.

The 'ridiculously long' holidays in fact do not change more than a couple of days in length and the only significant change in any of them is the adding of a second week to the autumn half-term break, at a time of year not renowned for its balmy weather.

The only real change is in the attempt to cut the Easter break away from the religious celebration of Easter in order to fix it at the same time of year, much as was done some years ago to the Whitsun break.

This would be a sensible idea if Easter were to be fixed as well, but either no attempt has been made to include consideration of that and bring the Church along with the idea, or it is deemed that nobody cares.

The result is that two other weeks in the supposedly regularised terms will have days knocked off them because of the Good Friday and Easter Monday public holidays.

It reveals a further shortcoming: Currently, working parents who want to take holidays at Easter time only need to take four or eight days out of their annual leave to achieve one or two full weeks' holiday.

With the proposed scheme that becomes five or ten days, while two other days are cut adrift into the middle of term in most years.

As to holidays being cheaper with this new fixed Easter break, how long would that last? Wiltshire is not the only county playing with this idea. Holiday firms would soon increase the prices for those weeks as well.

The Gazette seems to be suggesting it is the unequal lengths of terms, and the fact that there are currently three rather than six, that are causing teachers to leave in large numbers.

They leave in large numbers because they are bombarded with bureaucracy and interference, including Statutory Attainment Tests which serve no purpose other than to produce league tables that fail to address the different factors which may affect a school's performance

Meanwhile, there is a total failure to recognise, that no matter how equal the opportunities presented, there are still children who will fail to take them or are incapable of doing so.

All this is against a background in which teachers have few disciplinary sanctions and no means of self-defence that won't land them in a court.

This whole scheme also fails to address the single biggest problem for students: The exams are still going to take place in the hayfever season.

You urge teachers to support these changes. I suggest if there is any urging to be done it is to urge the education authority to let schools and their staff do the job they are there for.

Brian W Smith

Devizes