Madam, – I am astonished by Ferdinand von Prondzynski’s suggestion (Education Today, May 10th) that lotteries would be better than the points system for selecting students for popular university courses. I expect that von Prondzynski was appointed principal of Robert Gordon University on merit.
The board of the university could, of course, have chosen a principal from among the applicants by lottery. It seems probable that all the applicants were very able people, so they would have appointed a very able principal, but only if he was very lucky would it have been Prof von Prondzynski. I don’t think a lottery is the best way to appoint the head of a university, but then I don’t think it’s the right way to allocate student places either. – Yours, etc,
Madam, — Prof van Prondzynski makes an interesting suggestion for a partial CAO lottery system, but he is yet another who wishes to use the university system for social engineering purposes.The children of wealthy parents will always have an advantage. The real problem is the inadequate school system and the shortcomings of the Leaving Certificate, where ”rote learning is what examiners are looking for”.
Why are Irish educators so stuck on just one aspect of intelligence and how will a CAO lottery change that? – Yours, etc,