Teachers say they have to visit family abroad and accuse the EMB and schools of having an irresponsible attitude to them
Native English-speaking teachers (NETs) say they are angry they are being required to work during much of the summer holiday so that schools can make up classroom time lost because of the Sars outbreak.
They are particularly frustrated at the wide discrepancies in principals' demands.
At a meeting with the Education and Manpower Bureau (EMB) this week , the Native English-speaking Teachers' Association (Nesta) reported that some schools were preventing some NET teachers from taking sufficient time off in August to visit families at home, while others were more flexible.
'There has to be more consistency in the way the secondary and primary NET schemes are managed,' said Nesta chairman Adam Rekrut. He said that a primary NET teacher who works in two schools had been given three weeks' summer holiday by one and one week by the other.
'This teacher could have gone home to spend quality time with family, but now has to teach an extra two weeks at one of her schools,' Mr Rekrut said.
A secondary NET teacher, on the brink of quitting her job, said: 'The reduction in summer holidays is simply the last straw, particularly when so many NET teacher friends will be enjoying their usual seven-week breaks.'
