I WAS saddened but not surprised to read of the travails of our schools ("'A feeling of dread': Exhaustion and suffering highlighted as real cost of Glasgow's school cuts", October 20). Budget cuts have seen support for schools systematically stripped out over recent years. This has severely compromised the abilities of schools to meet the needs of Scotland’s pupils. Factor in the damage caused by the Covid pandemic, then things are pretty desperate.

There was far more support on hand when I was in my early years of secondary teaching. For a start there was a national staffing standard. My generation was brought up in the era of the famous Red Book. This was a very detailed set of calculations prepared by the then HMI that enabled schools and local authorities to work out a customised staffing for each establishment. On top of a basic staffing entitlement based on pupil numbers, additional staff allocations were funded by the government to support, for example, probationary teachers and what were then referred to as “remedial pupils”. Local authorities could, if they so wished, staff schools above nationally-funded Red Book levels but this would be paid for by an individual local authority.

For the classroom teacher there was the support of a local authority advisory service comprising a team of experienced teachers who offered valuable advice and support. In addition, the advisors provided a programme of in-service courses designed to keep staff up to date with changes in methodology and the relevant SQA exam arrangements. This has all gone.

For the secondary teachers there were principal teachers responsible for individual subject departments. These experienced teachers were responsible for the quality of teaching, staff development needs, discipline, pupil welfare, parental links, assessment, the required resources, the internal and external SQA exam requirements. In addition, the principal teachers, as key middle managers, played an absolutely vital part in the effective running of the school. They have now been replaced by a much smaller number of faculty heads responsible for a number of subject departments. This marked reduction in promoted posts in secondary schools seriously restricts career development for teachers and must be a disincentive for recruitment.

Finally, I can remember education departments led by a Directorate of experienced and respected educationalists. They have been replaced by administrators. A vision for education has given way to a struggle to survive.

Despite all of this, it is very much to the credit of our teachers that SQA results are still impressive and that overwhelmingly, judging by HMIE reports, communities continue to support the work of their local schools. We could though be doing so much better.

Eric Melvin, Edinburgh.

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Humanists want to gag Christians

FRASER Sutherland represents a very selective and narrow view of human consciousness ("'Churches have too much power over SNP': Anger at religion's influence", October 20). Article 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights protects rights to freedom of thought, belief and religion. It includes the right to put thoughts and beliefs into action. The Humanist Society of Scotland has an identifiable political agenda. It seeks to eliminate Christianity from public discourse. This is a totalitarian position reminiscent of Soviet communism. It is one lobbying body denying the right of another to exist.

Why does the Humanist Society of Scotland promote abortion, the killing of unborn human beings? Why does it promote extreme expressions of human sexuality? Why does it promote voluntary suicide? It is as much an astroturf organisation as those it opposes. There is no necessary connection between humanism and current so-called "progressive" cultural war views. They are contradictions of the term "humanist".

The Humanist Society of Scotland has less than one-tenth of the membership of the Church of Scotland. It's a minute fraction of the number of Christians worldwide and a much smaller proportion of people who believe that there is more to life than its physical temporary nature: from contemporary prevalent folk religion which accords a deceased loved one continued existence and a place in "heaven" to the most assured recipient of Christian salvation.

Rev Dr Robert Anderson, Dundonald.

Look to peace and reconciliation

HAVING read the remarks of Fraser Sutherland Scottish Humanist Society, I was asking myself "am I normal?". This is because I do follow a religion, I am Catholic and view the Church of Scotland as our friends.

I intensely dislike Brexit and everything "far-right" and I am certainly not a fan of Donald Trump. But surely abortion (politely termed "termination") does mean deliberately ending a human life. It is a fact borne out in science that life begins at conception.

Mr Sutherland says he also supports assisted dying. I am in my mid-eighties and the thought of poison injections to end my life gives me nightmares. It’s not because some archbishop or other told me to say so but because I know that in reality these days, our health service is struggling desperately with shortage of funds, hospital beds and massive waiting lists, so the prospect of assisted dying might be seen as a way out.

We are now uncomfortably near a major world war provoked by religious extremists of irreconcilable positions. So I suggest to the Humanists that peace and reconciliation might be better aspirations in their discussions. And I do hope I am in fact normal despite not fitting our friend Fraser’s categorisation.

Robin Hassalll, Craigellachie.

Many scientists are believers

NOTING the report about secularists' anger towards Christian influence in politics, I see Fraser Sutherland’s comments about science. He needs to get out more. Large numbers of scientists are churchgoers.

I have long suspected that belief is more common in the sciences than in the humanities. One Scot I knew told me: “It is because I am a scientist that I believe in God.” Many scientists see the full wonder of creation from cosmic to subatomic levels. It leads them to seek what is beyond the intellectual certainty that humans know it all.

Dr NP Hudd, Tenterden, Kent.

Celebrate paying less tax

CONTRARY to Clark Cross’s assertion (Letters, October 20) that fuel duty receipts in 2023/24 “fell well short” of a Treasury expectation of £24.3 billion, the figure from the HMRC tax receipts and National Insurance contributions for the UK annual bulletin of September 20 is that the Treasury actually received slightly more, £24.8bn in 2023/2024.

But then the question is why anyone would think that drivers paying £13 billion less tax and helping to save the planet is a bad thing, when most people would celebrate if the Treasury announced a £13 billion cut in income tax or VAT?

Alan Ritchie, Glasgow.

Pensioners will not forget

MORE than 20% of the Scottish population are OAPs and they are very angry about the way they are being treated by the Scottish Government with the current high rate of Scottish income tax and the failure to pay the heating allowance, which the Government could have done.

The Scottish Government has even increased the price of alcohol which to many is the one last pleasure left in their retirement. This will be well remembered for the 2026 elections.

Dennis Forbes Grattan, Aberdeen.

Do stop it, Kevin

KINDLY instruct Kevin McKenna to cease and desist with his articles immediately, failing which I beg him at the very least to show his readers some mercy. His article “Forget the trough-full of losers and talentless chaff, SNP should have made me CEO” (October 20) has engendered serious lesions on both my legs. While I suspect there may be a whiff of persiflage within his claim, the result was to have me slapping my thighs in unalloyed joy. Enough I say, enough.

Bob Scott, Drymen.

Death of a gangster

CHRIS Kaba, shot by firearms officer Martyn Blake, was one of London's most feared gangsters with a history of violence since the age of 13. He was involved in multiple shootings across London as part of the feared 67 gang. He was sentenced to four years in jail for firing a sawn-off shotgun but was inexplicably released after only a year to continue his criminal activities. Just six days before he was killed he shot a rival gang member in a Hackney nightclub packed with 1,500 people.

On his death Labour MP Diane Abbot expressed strong criticism of the police, emphasising that Chris Kaba was "just going about his daily life" when he was killed. Well, that is certainly true.

Clark Cross, Linlithgow.

Chris KabaChris Kaba (Image: PA)

Don't harm animals at Halloween

AS Halloween celebrations become bigger and scarier every year, it’s important to remain mindful that we don’t harm animals while scaring ourselves silly. With a few simple rules of (severed) thumb, we can all ensure that we’re never ghouls to animals on All Hallows’ Eve.

Balloons, streamers, fake webs, and other decorations can entangle small animals, while chocolate, raisins, nuts, and items sweetened with xylitol can be deadly, so keep them out of reach of small paws.

Never attend a Halloween event that features live animals. Rats, snakes, bugs, and spiders aren’t really scary: they’re fascinating individuals who deserve to live in peace without being handled and harassed, or cast as Halloween villains. And please avoid dressing up animal companions in costumes that could restrict their movement or cause them distress.

Use pumpkins in vegan pies or soups. After your jack-o’-lantern has lit up the holiday, make a meal of it for yourself or dispose of it safely rather than leaving it for wildlife to eat. Pumpkin isn’t a natural wild food source for many animals and can make them sick.

Jennifer White, Peta UK, London.