It is not usual for me to write criticising opinions of regular columnists in this paper but last Sunday’s contribution by Michela Spiteri so irked me that I felt compelled to write.

My own daughter attended the same school in the 1980s, a choice I made because, being a teacher trained by the nuns of the Sacred Heart, I believed in the ethos of the school.

We were not (and still are not) paid-up members of any political party and my daughter was happy mixing both with the lollipops and the peanuts. Her best friend’s father was an important MLP Cabinet member but my daughter never experienced what was claimed by the columnist.

In fact, I have to make Ms Spiteri aware that it was not easy to be attending a Church school in those days. The Labour government of the day tried to close these schools down by its claim of “b’xejn jew xejn” (free or nothing) and as parents we had to sacrifice many a weekend in protest rallies to save the schools. It is only thanks to the wisdom of former archbishop Joseph Mercieca that they survived!

When Sandhurst opened its doors, many girls coming from Labour families abandoned their old school to flock to this new paradise on earth. It was their parents’ choice that drove them there, not because they were discriminated against at the Sacred Heart School.