Poor prospects mean educators have to move on

Readers discuss teachers, school meals, fizzy drinks and tiger cubs

Readers praise teachers but say they don’t have opportunities to advance. Sarah Dea / The National

As a teacher, I would like to comment on Tax-free salaries no longer enough to attract and retain UAE's best teachers (March 20).

Of course, everybody should respect teachers. But I would also like to see the administration at my school follow through on behaviour-management issues, and to offer raises or incentive payments to offset the increasing cost of living.

I love my school and its staff, but the economic climate is going to make my stay in the UAE shorter than I originally planned. Name withheld by request

Opportunities for career progression are much fewer in the educational sector than in some other professions, so there is no surprise that there is a high turnover.

It is the responsibility of school management to provide a proper career path for teachers.

Ramachandran Nair, Oman

The story sums up the problem in the sentence that says schools in the UAE have found it cheaper to cycle through staff than to offer existing staff new opportunities and roles.

T Milbourne, Dubai

Parents must share blame

I refer to UAE schools must do more to ensure pupils eat healthy meals, doctors say (March 20).

I have seen cake and doughnuts being delivered to students at my children’s school, as well as parents packing jars of Nutella and pure white sugar in their kids’ lunchboxes.

The dietary habits of some families are very poor.

J Sharp, Abu Dhabi

Some school canteens serve sugary drinks and over-salted popcorn. There is not a piece of fruit or a vegetable in sight.

But we should also blame the parents, not just the schools. Some parents send their children to school with chocolate bars, sweets and snack foods, and many children don't have established bedtime routines. How can you to educate sugarfuelled, tired children? S Thakrar, Abu Dhabi

Pupils regularly order fast-food delivery to some schools. How about stopping these food deliveries rather than blaming the school?

James de Vile, Abu Dhabi

Mixed reactions to tax on drinks

I refer to your editorial, VAT in UAE will curb unhealthy consumption (March 19).

It’s about time a sugar tax was implemented.

Salam Mahmood, Dubai

I think they should also tax plastic bags and throwaway cutlery.

Claire Wyness, Abu Dhabi

A tobacco tax is OK, but I don’t think it should apply to drinks such as Pepsi or Coca-Cola.

Habib Rahim Hazim, Afghanistan

Saddened by tiger cubs’ fate

I read in disbelief about the Siberian tiger cubs who were being sent to a zoo in Syria (Three tiger cubs rescued in Beirut, March 19).

The story says they spent a week in “unacceptable conditions” in a crate at Beirut airport.

What on earth were the people there thinking of? Have humans lost respect for everyone and everything these days?

Lorraine Ludman, Dubai

Britain has a lot to answer for

Indians cannot easily forget what the British did to them and their country for more than 200 years (India has still not moved on from the British Raj, March 14).

They were responsible for the deaths of 3.5 million Indians during the Bengal famine, as they took away all the wheat to Britain.

Can India forget the massacre of helpless, innocent civilians at Jallianwala Bagh? This cannot be forgiven.

Arif Khan, Dubai

Israel deserves to be shunned

Newspapers in the United Kingdom and elsewhere are reporting that a member of the British royal family is likely to visit Israel this year.

Under no circumstance should any member of the royal family even think about making an official visit to Israel until that state complies with the United Nations Security Council’s Resolution 2334 and reverses its illegal settlement policy in the Occupied Territories.

Anthony Bellchambers, UK