Undue pressure on children

I would like to bring this letter to the attention of Louis Galea, Minister of Education, and Sonya Camilleri, Commissioner for Children.

I'm a very concerned parent writing this letter just to let you know my feelings about certain issues that have been going on for years but which do not seem to be nearing their end.

One of them is the hurdle of Sec exams. When is this problem going to be solved? I just don't know and we, parents, are very concerned about the well-being of our kids which at the age of 10-11 are still kids. We all have to realise that. Don't blame us parents for sending them to private lessons and therefore increasing their homework considerably.

In my opinion they are unjustly being made to sit for certain examinations, like, for example, in the case of religion considering that if they fail this subject only and get a D mark they will not be able to join the junior lyceum. Don't you think this is not fair when keeping in mind what a of studying they have to do and mostly by heart just on this one subject only? I don't think children who fail the religion subject are not good academically. In my opinion religion doesn't have to be part of an entrance exam. You should consider as well that kids embracing different religions don't sit for this exam and yet they still have the right for entry in the junior lyceum.

Another very serious issue is the news that our country has the highest percentage of obese children. In my opinion this issue has to be taken more seriously and whoever is in charge should increase the number of PE teachers so that PE can be practised scrupulously at least three times a week if not everyday. One may wonder how this can be possible given the sort of curriculum students have. The answer is to consider extending school hours; maybe instead of finishing at 2.30 p.m. schools can end at 3.15 p.m. This should help ease the pressure on kids.

I know this is not easy but it is good to bear in mind that if our kids are fit physically they will perform mentally as well not to mention the fact that if they are well aware of physical education from a young age they will continue practising sports even when older and this will decrease the expenditure in health care as well!

I hope my letter does not fall on deaf ears.