Madam, - Prof Pat O'Connor (August 25th) declares his incredulity and disquiet at what he assumes to be an attitude of male bias underlying comments that I made about the comparative performance of girls and boys in the Leaving Certificate. Were Professor O'Connor's assumption correct, his disquiet would be well founded. It is not.
Without wishing rashly to assume anything about his attitudes, I hope Prof O'Connor would accept that it is a legitimate aim of educators to help all students, irrespective of gender, to make best use of their various talents and that if trends relating to performance in State examinations emerge we should seek to understand them.
I hope he would also see it as the duty of educators to consider whether more varied forms and timing of assessment can be deployed to engage students more purposefully in study. If such changes would benefit boys it is not to be inferred that they would hinder girls. Indeed, unless the likely result of such changes is the enrichment of the school and assessment experience of students generally, they should not be essayed.
His assumption that I portray as "discreditable" the consistency of girls' study is again mistaken. In common with all teachers, I prize it and wish only to assist boys to achieve similar consistency.
As for Professor O'Connor's reference to a "natural order" (the inverted commas are his), I am too young in attitude, if not in age, to be burdened with such baggage. - Yours, etc.,
JOHN MacGABHANN,
Education/Research Officer,
TUI,
Orwell Road,
Dublin 6.