Sir, - Dr Thomas Mitchell (The Irish Times, July 23rd and 24th) advocates the establishment of community education centres providing a range of educational services to address particular needs of the various age-groups in highly disadvantaged urban areas. He proposes that these centres have a mentoring link with existing third-level institutions.
It would be tragic if one outcome of these imaginative proposals was an accelerated export of human potential from deprived areas, thereby reducing their diversity of cultural identity and leaving those who remain even worse-off than before. If "more promising" people from disadvantaged areas are helped to gain access to third-level education, how likely are any of them to return to contribute to their communities' development?
Through research, third-level institutions have gained knowledge, skills and experience of innovation not only in creating employment in new industrial processes and services but also in improving the quality of life through environmental and cultural initiatives. What is needed is the harnessing of these resources in partnership with the community education centres advocated by Dr Mitchell, so that new employment opportunities and improved quality of life are built up in parallel with educational development.
This could create the possibility for recycling of indigenous talents, drawing in new talented people and reversing of the traditional process of exporting human talents and resources from the peripheries to the centres of the international free market. - Yours, etc.,
Adrian Philips,
Dublin City Agenda 21 Group, Nelson Mandela House, Dublin 1.