A magazine article recently dwelt on how Catherine Gonzi and Cherie Blair coped with their careers while being mothers, and I found it very interesting.

I myself am a working mother of a four-year-old daughter. I work full-time as it is impossible to survive financially today, with anything less.

My daughter is now attending kindergarten in the Attard government school, which academically is one of the best schools in Malta. But I would love to understand how the government expects more mothers to go back to work when there is not enough annual leave in a year for a mother to ensure her child is taken care of throughout the school holidays, during strikes called by teachers, and of course, during the week of the Junior Lyceum exams when some schools start at 11 a.m. That's not forgetting the days when the child is sick. All this comes out of our annual leave.

Also, I would like to point out that there is not one day-care facility in Malta that is open until after a full-timer finishes work. All those I know of close at 5 p.m. Many Maltese mothers are lucky because they have a lot of help from the family, but it is not the case with all.

I have heard that a day-care facility, run by the government, is to open in Cospicua. It is nice to see that they are finally doing something to help mothers return to work, but I do not live in this area and cannot make use of this facility. What about the people who live in the central and northern parts of Malta? As in all areas of the island, these problems have increased.