Can Lorraine Spiteri-Scerri from Canada (TMID, 5 May) who wrote about teachers tell us what is the total number of holidays per year and the number of teaching hours per week that teachers have in Canada? Don’t lie, as I have other sources to check from. It’s true that the salaries in Canada are three or four times those of Malta but this trend is the same with every profession in Malta, be it a doctor, lawyer, dentist, nurse, etc.

Can this correspondent also confirm whether in Canada there are the same problems associated with schools as there are in Malta?

These include:

• Private tuition galore in order for students to pass their exams (as a matter of fact, most students quit private lessons once they get a pass);

• Highest rate of early school-leavers in the EU;

• Gender inequality – a recently-published report states that working women are worse off in Malta than in China. In Malta, mothers find it extremely difficult to return to work due to the fact that schools in Malta operate quite uniquely!

Charles Micallef

Fgura