OUR local schools' GCSE results are now published and they show Weston schools are doing well. Congratulations to all our pupils, and to their teachers

OUR local schools' GCSE results are now published and they show Weston schools are doing well.Congratulations to all our pupils, and to their teachers. I don't know how teachers cope today. I couldn't in 1993 and fled from the classroom after 33 years.Paperwork, lack of support, mixed-ability large classes, disruptive and often violent pupils, and the constant struggle to get work finished led to my early retirement.Are things any better, or worse, today, despite the exam results' window-dressing?I hear about teachers who can't wait to retire. I hear about them being assaulted.No mention is made of the thousands of pupils who leave school unable to read or write. Young people taking drugs, and rising teenage crimes, seem to paint a different, uglier picture, but it's always the minority that blacken the good kids' reputations.I believe the move towards an exam-based educational system does not understand the different abilities and needs of our children.JOHN CARTER - Addicott Road, Weston