CIARA BRENNAN,
Sir, - To infer that Trinity and UCD "bear some of the blame" for the apparently high proportion of students from fee-paying schools (Editorial, September 17th) is to misunderstand how and why students go to universities.
The schools attended by applicants for university places are completely irrelevant to the universities. So also is the socio-economic background of prospective students. Universities have no choice whatsoever over which students they accept from the Republic of Ireland - apart from a small number of students selected under access programmes designed to discriminate positively in favour of the socially deprived. The universities have lowered the entry requirements for socially deprived students. They have funded, largely from their own resources, access and support programmes for these students. The universities have made no contribution to the difficulties faced by lower socio-economic groups in securing university places and The Irish Times should acknowledge this.
This defence of the Universities is not to imply that some sections of society do not have equal access to university education. But The Irish Times and the HEA concentrate on one particular disadvantaged group (Dubliners from certain areas) to the neglect of all others. Opportunities available to Dublin schoolchildren to attend university, whatever their backgrounds, are far greater than those available to rural students. But there are no special access programmes for the rural socially deprived.
The child of a country garda, teacher or unskilled labourer has greater difficulties in entering third-level education than any city child, who can live at home rent-free and who has the contacts for part-time work. But there is no outcry that only a few students came to Trinity or UCD from Kerry? Are Kerry students less equal than those from Dublin? Rural children (rich and poor) generally attend the same (non-fee-paying) schools, yet a far higher proportion of rural students from some areas progress to third-level than from certain Dublin schools. How does The Irish Times explain this?
It can hardly be argued that it is because they paid school fees; they did not. The proportion of students from at least one of the fee-paying schools mentioned who progress to Trinity or UCD is lower than from many non-fee-paying schools and there is no commentary about this. Nor is any allowance made for the fact that many secondary students from deprived Dublin areas do not want to come to UCD or Trinity for very good reasons.
It is clear that The Irish Times is pursuing a narrow and one-dimensional agenda which is misleading and unfair. - Yours, etc.,
Prof YVONNE SCANNELL,
Fortfield Terrace,
Rathmines,
Dublin 6.
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Sir,- I had quite an epiphany reading your edition of September 17th. I was obviously mistaken several years ago in studying hard for my Leaving Certificate to get my university place. I could merely have asked Daddy to write a cheque to buy me my points.
However, unfortunately, I was unable to "virtually glide" into the top college of my choice, as the Editorial last Tuesday claimed I should have, living as I do in "leafy suburbia". To maintain that places in better-known colleges can be bought is an insult to every third-level student in the country, and as good as negates completely the effort of school pupils to secure college places. If this were the case, even those entirely unsuited and unable to pursue certain studies would still have the opportunity to do so. Giving opportunities is commendable, but not when it means students dropping out of college unable to keep up, when they just don't have the learning capacity.
It sounds snobbish and rude, but that's the way it is. The issue is not whether or not a student can afford a college place, but whether or not they have the intellect and attitude necessary to get one. The fact that the two major universities of Dublin obtain the majority of their students from private fee-paying schools and the Institute of Education is entirely irrelevant. Students use their brains to study, and not their parents' chequebooks. Some may be given the opportunity to repeat their Leaving Certificate, which admittedly does require a large cheque in many cases, but at the end of it all, it takes 600 points to gain access to some courses in TCD and UCD, and not €600 or even €600,000.
The president of the USI, Colm Jordan, has obviously lost all faith in the students whose welfare he is supposed to maintain. In stating that "what matters now is the ability to pay, not the ability to learn", he piles further insult at the doors of hard-working students. It is hard to get to college, and even harder to stay, with the combination of both heavy course work and an almost 70 per cent rise in registration fees. There are grants available for those unable to pay, but not for those unable to learn.
Perhaps, though, I should just retire back to my leafy suburb and keep my silly opinions to myself, as I obviously have enough money not to need brains. - Yours etc.,
CIARA BRENNAN,
Killiney Road,
Killiney,
Co Dublin.
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Sir, - I appreciate that The Irish Times is trying to highlight the injustice of the two- and three-tiered education system, but parental responsibility is often at odds with social justice.
If parents have the resources to make choices, they are going to chose what is best for their children. This often means that the wider justice agenda will not be taken into account. How many parents want to limit their children's chances by choosing a school or college which does not seem to have good results? If one's children's life chances depend on the acquisition of credentials, parents are faced with stark choices. These choices may appear to be straightforward, but they perpetuate the grossly unjust stratification.
Your tables of injustice will be read as league tables. I feel they will be used in an unjust way. Of course we know it is the duty of the State to redress the injustice of the multi-layered system, and implement what is good for all the children of the State. I fear that the recent cuts will do the opposite. - Yours, etc.,
BRÍD CONNOLLY,
Kilcock Road,
Maynooth
Co Kildare.