The teaching profession has always been at the receiving end of criticism by some correspondents who are envious of what they regard as the superior working conditions of teachers when compared to those of other professions and jobs.

If one peruses the newspapers of the past, one finds all the arguments that are still used today to denigrate the teaching profession: too many holidays, shorter-than-average working hours, avoiding any work that is not strictly "teaching", etc. Lately, teachers have once again become the target of negative criticism by several people who should know better. Which is why an objective analysis of the situation is highly desirable.

Everybody recognises the fact that teaching is both stressful and exhausting. Likewise, everybody is cognisant of the fact that a teacher's job does not finish when s/he leaves school. At home, one has to prepare the teaching/learning materials for tomorrow's lessons and also find time for correcting homework. So, it is a fallacy to state that a teacher's job means working less than the 40 hours a week of the average worker.

Furthermore, several of today's younger generations have absolutely no respect for authority and it is already tough for some teachers simply to maintain discipline, let alone to make sure the children under their care receive the best education possible! Which is why I have stated that teaching is both stressful and exhausting, as evidenced through the results of serious academic research on this topic.

Teachers, on their part, have to be impeccable in their performance and behave as true professionals if they want their students, the latter's parents/guardians and other members of the public to show them respect. It is unfortunate when the public is informed of cases where teachers abuse of their sick leave as happened in a widely-publicised case recently. Abuse of sick leave is always condemnable in any job or profession but much more so in the case of teachers because their primary function is to mould exemplary citizens. A teacher who reports "sick" when the case is not so is surely a very negative role model for the younger generations!

Part-time work has become a necessity for many Maltese to be able to eke out a living today and teachers are no exception. However, even here one has to be careful. There are teachers who work a reasonable amount of hours part-time weekly. Unfortunately, there are others who literally have two jobs, working all of their "free time" and making it obvious that their commitment towards their teaching career stops as soon as they exit the school gate.

Such teachers render their teaching colleagues vulnerable to attacks on teachers' shorter working hours because some people will unfairly use such examples to show that teachers take advantage of their shorter working hours to make more money instead of focusing on improving their teaching/learning product.

I am sure that all those reading what I have to say on this subject of teachers agree that the vast majority of the members of the teaching profession are a credit to it. How many teachers go very early to work in order to make sure they are 100 per cent prepared when their first lesson starts? How many remain after school or go to school during the holidays to help students in such recommendable activities as sports, drama and environmental initiatives? There are teachers who even help in refurbishment works inside the school itself.

Yes, I believe that Malta's teaching profession is worthy of the respect of the nation. Indeed, I am very disappointed at the recent trend in unfair and damaging attacks on the teaching profession. When I was young, it was common to hear somebody say "there goes a man/lady" when seeing a former teacher of his/hers pass by. Teachers were highly respected in our society in the past.

I am a middle-aged person now and worried by all these attacks on teachers because an attack on the teaching profession is also an attack on what it stands for: respect for order and authority, service to others and to one's country.