They claimed there were cases where children were murdered or tortured by housemaids and said the nurseries would be a much safer option as the teachers would be close to their sons and daughters during their working hours.

"My housemaid ran away after she discovered that she was pregnant. I am now alone with my three-month-old son. I cannot take him to school with me and there is no way I can leave him at home alone," said Fatima Muhammad.

She said all her attempts to find a new housemaid have failed and added that she was obliged to take time off from work to look after her baby.

Fatima, who Arab News met in a hospital in Jeddah, looked pale and very sick. She said she could not sleep for two nights because of her worries and concerns over how to balance between her duties toward her baby and her job.

"This matter is really affecting my performance at school. I do not know how I have managed to teach in this condition. There must be a solution to our problem otherwise we may fail as teachers," she said.

Many women teachers who talked to Arab News believed that their performance would be much better if they did not have to worry about their babies. They said their worries increase remarkably when there is a cold or flu epidemic. The women were unanimous in their belief that they had no option but to call in sick if they had to choose between their babies and their work.

They also said having their babies close to them in their schools would allow them to take advantage of the two hours off given to them by the Ministry of Civil Service in 2009 to feed their babies.

Nasser bin Muhammad Al-Omari, an educational supervisor and member of the National Society for Children's Rights, supported the demands of the women teachers. He said the babies could suffer long-term psychological effects if they are not in close contact with their mothers. "We must deal with this issue from a human point of view. We should not wait for laws and regulations," he argued.

Al-Omari said allowing babies to be near their mothers during their working hours would help guarantee society with healthy, strong and well-mannered children. "The women teachers are making a lot of sacrifices for the country. The least we can do for them is to build nurseries for their babies in their schools," he said.

Saud Al-Harbi, an educational researcher, described the idea of establishing nurseries in girls schools as an excellent one, though it was not a new concept. "The idea was debated before. It is now high time to give it serious thought," he said.

Ruba Al-Muflihi, a former supervisor of an orphanage for girls in Makkah, warmly supported the idea and said it would ensure women teachers with peace of mind, which would help them perform better.

"We have to provide women teachers with the atmosphere that would enable them to do their job properly," she said. She also questioned why society should expect women teachers to teach children when they are worried about their own babies.

She recalled that when she was supervisor of the orphanage and needed the help of a woman teacher to deal with a certain case, the employee was reluctant to help and told her bluntly that her own children were more worthy of her care and concern.

Yousuf bin Sulaiman Al-Ghifari, a journalist, asked the Ministry of Education, represented by Deputy Minister for Girls’ Education Nura Abdullah Al-Faiz, to give serious consideration to the demand of the women teachers.

He claimed that Al-Faiz herself announced at the conclusion of the conference of leading educationalists recently in Abha that nurseries would be established at government schools for girls. He also said the deputy minister had promised to establish teachers' clubs, and added nothing has materialized so far.

Lawyer and legal consultant Adnan Al-Zahrani supported the establishment of nurseries in schools and recalled that labor laws stipulated that business owners employing 50 women or more had to provide special places for their children if they were younger than six.

He said according to the law, the labor minister had the right to oblige businessmen employing 100 women or more to build nurseries for their children.