ON ONE of the UK’s flagship national news platforms last week, two unrelated topics were given air time on each of the five days’ broadcasting I tuned in to.

A glance at some newspaper websites confirmed that the two topics were covered in print, too.

But, by the end of my unscientific week’s survey, I started to imagine how it must be for the professionals working in the two featured sectors to hear people arguing and debating their function and performance out loud, day after day.

Not a day went by without coverage of education and health issues – and coverage that included integral criticism by some of existing practices, procedures or policies in the way our classrooms and wards are run.

True, each of these topics is rarely off the top of the political agenda. But for teachers, doctors and other NHS professionals, it must sometimes feel as if some sort of water torture is being applied – a drip, drip of stories that at best undermine what people are trying to achieve in each sector and at worst demotivate those whose vocation is to teach or make people better.

Our teachers must surely be getting weary of the constant changes they are required to make to the way they teach our youngsters?

If they are not, they display a resolve and patience beyond the norm.

To its credit, the teaching profession has kept its collective cool over the scale and extent of change.

What’s sorely needed now, surely, is a period of stability and consistency that gives us a state education system that attracts bright, inspiring and innovative teachers for all the right reasons.

In the avalanche of last week’s media coverage about schools and teaching, one contributor spoke with clarity of purpose that made his plea sound like one from the heart, rather than the vantage point of a vested interest holder.

Chris Keates, general secretary of the NAS/UWT – the largest teachers' union in the UK – said: “No one is complacent, least of all teachers and school leaders, Šabout ensuring that all children and young people enjoy the highest standards of educational provision to ensure that they achieve their full potential.

“The lesson that all political parties should learn is that changing structures doesn’t raise standards, it Šjust distractsŠ governors, staff and parents from Šfocusing on them.”

MATT JOHNSON is chairman of Mando Group.