Madam, - May I respond to Kathleen Long (May 9th), who took exception to Kevin Myers's Irishman's Diary of April 30th? I am sitting the Leaving Certificate this June, and like thousands of other students, I am leaving school without having been taught the most basic life-skills ("mortgages, money management, investments, the law, engineering computers, sexuality, the biosphere, road usage").
This is in no way a reflection on our teachers, who work their socks off to prepare us for the regurgitation of petty "learned-by-heart" information for the exams, but on the inadequacies and poor guidance of the Irish education system.
The main goal of students is to achieve in getting the number of points required to enter their chosen third-level course. They would love to learn "basic life-skills" but this would mean sacrificing some of the precious time they have to study subjects that will ultimately put points on the board. One could argue that some of these topics are dealt with in social and scientific home economics; but what about students who have to take science subjects and/or European languages instead because you cannot enter a certain course in a certain institution without an honours grade in these subjects?
This is just one of many faults of our "world-class education system", which leaves us unprepared for the real world and the social obstacles we may face: how best to escape the ever-increasing street violence, or avoid being infected with a sexually transmitted disease, or taking out a sky-high mortgage. Why should we work so hard (which we do, contrary to popular belief), if we are just left feeling bitter, disappointed, and unappreciated. Yes, we have "moved on", but to where? - Yours, etc.,
BRIAN DALY, Strandside North, Dungarvan, Co Waterford.