I am glad that for once, Mr Franco Farrugia did not launch a very aggressive attack on me but far from what he said (“usually, I do not reply to people like Mr Micallef…”, TMID 16 July), he doesn’t think it over twice to answer me. If Mr Farrugia continues to deny this, I will next time list the occasions when he always confronted me directly and sometimes even personally as well – the first one starting when I genuinely gave suggestions on school transport vis-à-vis reduction of pollution and traffic congestion.

Discrepancies between local salaries and those abroad do not only exist with teachers as Mr Farrugia is trying to make us believe. Name any profession and you will see what financial difference there is if you had to work abroad.

I am not surprised to hear that he is now accusing me of inaccuracies. But for the sake of who is still believing that Mr Farrugia is correct in saying that Maltese school holidays are more or less comparable to those in the UK, I suggest that they log on to the following website: http://www.classroom teachers.co.uk/schoolyear.html

Besides seeing how other schools operate abroad, one also has to consider the particular needs of the country. In Malta, both major political parties and organisations for the rights of women are agreeing that that there should be no barriers that hinder mothers from going to work.

In addition, we all complain that many children need to go to private lessons to even just make it through their exams (in fact, once they get at least a pass mark, they usually quit the lessons). They are not even prepared from school to receive the sacraments of Holy Communion and Confirmation because they are forced to attend religious doctrine lessons in the evening.

Finally, to top it all, as a nation we are among the leading countries to have the fattest and laziest children in Europe. How could all these major issues be addressed?

These problems, however, cannot be solved overnight, especially on the eve of a general election.

The real change in the education system, I believe, has to be implemented gradually throughout a span of say 20 years as is being done with our pension retirement system. Look how nice, quietly and smoothly it is slowly being increased. Whereas there were protests against the loss of just a couple of days of vacation leave due to the new regulations governing public holidays falling on weekends, no major union opened its mouth for the fact that we will have to work for four more years.

But don’t worry, Mr Farrugia and company. Rest assured that in Malta, it is not how much you deliver to the nation that counts most, or how much you become exhausted at work with little leisure time left at the end for you to enjoy.

It’s how strong your representing union is and the magnitude of the workforce in terms of potential votes that are of major concern to the authorities. As a matter of fact, a new historic agreement entitles hundreds of secondary school teachers to a laptop. Well done, people!

One final thing as food for thought: in the light of the successful summer schools every year, are school holidays really meant for children to enjoy their parents? Please, stop trying to justify the plain truth…

C. Micallef

Fgura