I admire anyone who can spend the amount of hours trcahers spend with a group of 25 kids and instill in them knowledge, respect, way of life etc.
I could never do it and if I did, I know I would need A LOT of rest to be able to manage this with nerves of steel and not end up shouting at the kids.

Do I envy the long holiday? Heck yeah, wish I had those for my job of course at my same salary.

Do I envy their jobs? Nope. Hence am grateful they do what they do, many many of them so well! But indeed like a previous poster I feel the days for "education of teachers" could be taken during said holidays.... Having an extra 2 days off after 2 weeks holiday does feel a bit like taking the piss

I normally do 7-9 during the week, 10-12 on weekends.

Tom

I know Mrs Thatcher & Geoffrey Howe managed on less than 2 hours sleep. Some people are successful because they have more hours to use in a day.

There is teaching and then there is teaching...


Primary school - large classes, teaching almost every subject, work with same kids the whole week. Work evenings and weekends to do prep.


All meetings are outside class time, pay is quite good (compared to teaching anywhere else in the world), generally classes are stable and with good facilities. Individual parents, staff and kids can be a challenge.



Downside - no flexibility to take doctors appointments, any family commitments or other breaks during school time. Certainly no flexible days off. When you are sick or absent replacement doesn't happen or is chaos. The whole lifestyle fits around the school calendar year.



Upside - scheduled holiday periods, work at least 50% of every 'holiday' period (especially Christmas break!) on classroom preparation, planning. marking, reports and parent meetings.



Downside, all holidays will be during peak time, when everyone else (and their kids) are having holidays. And kids bring lots of illnesses into the classroom.



What it does not do is provide a high career/salary path or a lot of flexible working.



But it means the 'teaching spouse' can always be available during school holidays to look after their own kids... leaving the 'non-teaching spouse' to pursue their own career without needing to work part-time because of kids at home.



Basically, it's set up quite well as a second income for a nuclear family - dad has a traditional workplace and mum is the teacher who also juggles home life.

Smart

Teachers do something useful for society. Other professions may work longer hours, but they either get higher pay or don't get to have to have responsibility for kids.

I know you did fine without education, but that's no excuse for being ignorant.

And other professions don't?I don't necessarily subscribe to FMF's life views, but this comes across as very self-centric.

... and Wednesdays ???

Swiss teachers earn very high salaries, so they both have their cake & eat it so to say.
I think you will find nurses work more hours, with less pay & less holidays than teachers & are just as much use to society. You seem to be taking an unbelievably narrow view on this.

Primary and Sek I salaries were raised a bit recently (in BL/BS). They still arent' that high, considering that new teachers now need a B.Sc. ( ca 5900/month at the age of 35 with a 100% position)
https://www.apd-gehaltsrechner-ktbern.ch/

Additionally, salaries depend on the canton. I would earn around 15-20 % less if I would teach in canton berne.

They’re the day between Tuesdays and Thursdays.

I think he experiences the stuff his kid is going through. The training is harsh, the grades you needs for uni and at uni are really earned, or Haute Ecole Ped, I went to uni. My own experiences matter too and almost all teachers I know don't get the 100% contract, and then this is sometimes split between different schools in different towns. Of course that these are just conditions and then everyone does what they can within the conditions and the results are different. But that's everywhere, even where people can live on somebody else's income, we have a lot of those too here. Personal attitudes impact the most.

Bern pays less? I know GE was debating it.

__________________
"L'homme ne peut pas remplacer son coeur avec sa tete, ni sa tete avec ses mains." J.H. Pestalozzi

“The only difference between a rut and a grave is a matter of depth.” S.P. Cadman

"Imagination is more important than knowledge." A. Einstein

Yes, I learned that from my Mum, who was a teacher. But what do teachers in Switzerland do on Wednesday?

Thats a pretty good starting salary, roughly 10% below the average Swiss salary yet very long holidays. I wish I had learned to play the violin rather than the cello
Tax in Berne would be substantially higher, so a double whammy to work there.

Take the afternoon off or is it the whole day?

You know I always had the impression that Uni Lecturers don't want to teach at all, they want to do research... teaching is an annoying distraction. They "work" all the time, seven days a week.

I don't know any public school teachers here, but the local school is closed in the summer and the vacations, so if they do anything... its surely all remotely. But I done some teaching in my time and you need to do prep and it takes time.

Teaching is also more stressful than your 9 till 5 job too. You don't have quiet days in teaching, everyday is go, go, go...

On the other side of the coin I worked in a private school for almost a decade. During the vacations most of the "teachers" just did their own thing, really. I know that for sure cause I managed the IT and they left their laptops in their desks I kid you not. They would take best part of three months off in the summer, so yes 12 weeks June, July and most if not all August. So super long vacations, yes.

Yes, well BS actually pays very good. Not far behind ZH.

How does VD do compared to them?

Yes it's decent, but not if we compare it to others with a FH degree.
You can imagine that I was the target of a quiet some banter when I started as a teacher, in those instances I gave them the link to my teachers school and mentioned the shortage of teachers (especially in Berne .... , not really surprising).

You play the cello? I'd like to restart when I'm done with my A level teaching diploma (Berufsmatura)