I would like to express my feelings regards a letter which Maria Camilleri from Sliema wrote, School Hours and Holidays (TMID, 30 June)

I teach at a Boys Secondary School. Only God knows how thankful I am for the nine weeks of summer holidays which teachers and students are given. Nine weeks in which the teachers are given time to rest after a very stressful year in which they gave up all their strength in order to give the best to their students and help them achieve their maximum potential – which is, allow me to say, no easy task. Come April, both teachers and students are already tired and exhausted.

As regards to longer school hours, I would like to emphasise that during most days, at 2.30pm, a secondary school teacher has already seen and interacted with 130 students, each with their personal situations, behavioural problems and school difficulties. At 2.30pm, a secondary school teacher is thanking God for still having some voice to interact with her family and friends.

At 2.30pm, a secondary school teacher is wondering if after having arrived home, cooked lunch, corrected homeworks, prepared lesson plans, developed lesson resources, done beds, ironed clothes and washed the bathroom (exactly in this order), has any time left to spend with her family, make errands, interact with friends, or enjoy a hobby. If teachers had to leave school at 5pm....well, the majority of the present teachers would definitely leave school and find other jobs, which may just as well finish at 5pm, but leave you with the remaining time to spend for you and your family.

As regards to students and their staying at school till 5pm doing their homework, I am sure that after 6½ hours of work, the students need to go home, eat (or are the schools and teachers asked to cater for this necessity as well?), do their homeworks on their own (because they must learn to do so), enjoy some free time with family and friends, and have a long night’s rest. I ask how this would be possible if the students had to leave school at 5pm?

I believe teachers and parents should work together for the well-being of the children. Students come to school and find their teachers who act as educators and carers. They are then to go home, where they find their parents who are the best educators. Schools do not send their students earlier at home or ask them to come in later, in order for the teachers to be given more time for the work they do for school. Teachers can never leave school at 2.30pm and say “Work is over!”. When teachers arrive home, they have loads of material to produce for the following day, while taking care of their own families. It is as simple as that.

P.S. Air-conditioned classrooms? I would love to hear what the Education Minister thinks about this expense, since schools are barely given enough funds for everyday resources!

Bertha Busuttil

Valletta