They are the very people who, back in the Eighties, the Manpower Service Commission used to tell us would help defuse the demographic "time-bomb" caused by the falling numbers of young people.In short, the definition you chose, as ever, depends on the information you want.Yours sincerely,DAVID TAYLORLocal Economy Policy UnitSouth Bank UniversityLondon, SE124 March. Typically, most of these people are women and early retired men keeping half an eye open for suitable part-time work. But the fact that the Labour Force Survey count of unemployment conforms to ILO recommendations does not automatically mean that it is suitable for all purposes.For example, if you want to know about the size of the potential labour force, then it is sensible to take account of the - roughly one million - people who, while being classified as "economically inactive" by the LFS, nevertheless say they would like a job if one was available, and are free to take up such a job. This is where the LFS comes into its own.Like most definitions, the LFS definition of unemployment is arbitrary but at least it is clear and, unlike the claimant count, its coverage has remained largely unchanged since spring 1984. It is quick, cheap, and available at very high levels of geographic disaggregation. However, because the number of unemployed claimants is influenced by benefit legislation and the way benefits to unemployed people are administered, it is not a reliable measure of the actual number of people unemployed.

The definitions of unemployment used in the two counts, as well as their timing, are very different.This is not to say that one count is always right and the other always wrong. If interpreted carefully, the claimant count is a useful early indicator of the direction and speed of unemployment change. It also includes more women than the claimant count, but tends to include fewer men This is not surprising. I now suggest that any teacher who works overtime without extra pay is a fool.Yours sincerely,MAURICE HILLJaveaSpain23 March. From Dr David Taylor Sir: Phillip Oppenheim (letter, 24 March) is right to say that the monthly count of unemployed claimants currently produces similar totals to the Labour Force Survey's ILO count (letter, 24 March) However, this is something of a coincidence. Although there is overlap between the two counts, people included in the latter are missing from the former and vice versa. The LFS count includes more long-term unemployed people than the claimant count, but fewer short-term unemployed.

The next day, while I was sitting in the common room, the headmaster came in, threw a handful of small change over me, and walked out.I was young and altruistic. I submitted a token claim for travelling expenses for that year, amounting to about £4. For 16 years in grammar schools I spent every Saturday of the school year either refereeing football games or umpiring cricket matches, and coached teams one lunchtime and one evening every week. After 15 years without a penny payment or a word of thanks, I discovered that RE teachers were receiving extra pay for holding prayer meetings.

From Mr Maurice Hill Sir: Your report "Curriculum `driving out school sport' " (22 March) states that "the number of non-specialist PE teachers prepared to help with after-school sport continues to fall". This is not surprising. Inside Rwanda, the Red Cross is contributing to the reconstruction and rehabilitation of the country by reuniting families, providing tools and seeds to displaced people, plus emergency food supplies, and additionally rebuilding water and sanitation facilities.Yours sincerely,MIKE WHITLAMDirector-GeneralBritish Red CrossLondon, SW1. Humanitarian assistance has attempted to alleviate the desperate plight of the population but cannot, in any way, answer the fundamental requirements of the Rwandan people.It is vital that every effort must be made by the international community to help the Rwandan people find a political, military and economic solution which will restore a measure of stability to the Great Lakes region and allow the population to live together in safety.Until that solution is found, however, the Red Cross is putting together contingency plans for a possible second mass exodus of people from Burundi and continues to provide assistance to 954,000 people who are already refugees in Zaire, Tanzania, Burundi and Uganda. I have recently returned from Goma and Rwanda and there is little doubt that, while the Red Cross movement will continue to assist people where there is a clear need, the massive relief programme we are involved in both inside Rwanda and in neighbouring countries is neither permanently sustainable nor desirable. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) officially handed over a memo to the United Nations back in December calling for the international community to do everything in its power to avoid further bloodshed in this blighted region. The Red Cross is deeply concerned that further delay in bringing about a permanent solution to the prevailing crisis will leave the door open to an escalation of violence and a resumption of hostilities in the region. From Mr Mike Whitlam Sir: Your leading article of 23 February ("Saving Rwanda's troubled twin") rightly highlights the increasingly precarious situation in Burundi.