Sir, – On behalf of our 96 schools and 38,000 students across the country, we at the Edmund Rice Schools Trust would like to congratulate Minister for Education Joe McHugh for recognising the centrality of history in the education of young people.
His decision to give history "special status" on the Junior Cycle curriculum is a significant one for the future of learning and education in this country (News, October 1st).
The Edmund Rice network has schools in locations ranging from the inner city to small rural towns. We do not necessarily agree with the view that history is somehow a preserve of the “elite” or privileged. That history is popular with students is proven by the fact that nine out of 10 students have chosen the subject for their Junior Certificate.
As a former history teacher myself, I saw for years the way in which history lit up faces, opened up minds, and helped young people from many different backgrounds understand and appreciate more about the world around them, by first discovering and understanding more about the world that had preceded them.
History is the key to our collective future.
We need to ensure that our young people are given every opportunity to understand and appreciate our shared past so that they can become dynamic and informed leaders in the more pluralist, sustainable, tolerant and just future upon which we rely. – Yours, etc,
GERRY BENNETT,
Chief Executive,
The Edmund Rice
Schools Trust,
Blackrock,
Co Dublin.