Sir, – Further to Fintan O'Toole's "What is at the root of inequality?" (September 22nd), education within such an unequal socio-economic context can offer no equal opportunities as children coming from manifestly unequal conditions have to compete with those from very privileged backgrounds.
Literacy and numeracy standards in most Deis schools are rising and the teaching standards are of at least as high quality as those in middle-class areas.
Standards in literacy and numeracy in more privileged schools are rising also and the gap between both remains.
The starting point and the unequal conditions that poor children have to overcome to avail of good education are vastly different, however, and that is what really needs to be addressed.
Fintan O’Toole is correct, however, in pointing to underinvestment in education.
While the Government has retained the enhanced pupil-teacher ratios for Deis and disadvantaged schools, it has cut every other support to the most vulnerable and made all schools dependent on parental resources. In many disadvantaged areas now schools struggle to light and heat buildings and budgets cannot stretch to replacement of data projector bulbs.
Future education policymakers need to address this urgently, but as for inequality, that’s the business of economic and tax policies. – Yours, etc,
ANNE McCLUSKEY,
Principal,
Deis School,
Tallaght,
Dublin 24.
Sir, – Fintan O’Toole writes, “One in every two of us depends on the State to keep us out of poverty.”
It is not the State that is keeping half the people out of poverty; it is the other half of the people.
Fintan O’Toole must be under the impression that the State has a paper round. When we consider that a good percentage of those out of poverty have jobs in the public sector then it’s an even smaller percentage who are providing the means to support the rest of the population.
That child poverty is primarily due to a lack of resources being provided by the taxpaying minority is frankly ludicrous. Anyone who believes that a greater percentage of children now are less well-fed, clothed or that they are colder than 30 years ago has either never been poor or has a problem with their memory.
Even during the Celtic Tigers years child poverty statistics grew, because we chose to talk most about poverty relative to the income of others. When wages go up, more people are suddenly poor despite no change in their circumstances. An increase in the minimum wage places those dependent solely on social welfare further into poverty. Is Fintan O’Toole really making an argument against increasing the minimum wage?
Clearly there are still problems with social mobility and educational attainment across the social classes but the problems now just might not be solely related to resources and perhaps they have more to do with other problems. However, that wouldn’t suit Fintan O’Toole’s narrative that problems can best be solved by taking money from one group and giving it to another.
Saints preserve us from amateur social scientists with a cursory grasp of statistics, a calculator and a newspaper column. – Yours, etc,
DANIEL SULLIVAN,
Marino,
Dublin 3.