I give up debating with Franco Farrugia (TMID, 20 March) but I would like to remind the readers of this paper that in spite of his trying to desperately defend the teaching profession, he failed completely to deny with evidence the facts and questions that I laid on paper in my letter (To teach or not teach, TMID, 10 March).

These included:

• certain professionals preferring to work as teachers;

• no alarming figures of academic brain drain (as percentages!);

• not all teachers have same pressures of work;

• the need for private lessons from a national survey point of view; and

• the trend to suggest after school services (overtime) to compensate for the short school days.

C. Micallef

Fgura