As usual, school children have been given two days of holidays to celebrate Carnival. It is often said that Carnival is a festival for children, and therefore it is appropriate for them to be given the chance to enjoy it, although I do believe that most children today do not dress up.

But this is not the point of my letter. What I want to say is that teachers are also given two days of holidays with the children. These holidays are over and above the ones they are given at Christmas, Easter and summer. While other workers have to stretch their 24 days of holidays to have their own breaks from work – apart from working longer hours – teachers enjoy some kind of privilege. My suggestion is that while children do continue to celebrate Carnival, teachers should still go to school on these two days. Perhaps, in between taking coffees and talking politics, they find the time to correct the examination papers of the mid-term exams.

Maria Caruana

Mosta