Madam, - I have never previously taken pen to paper to write to the editor of any national newspaper, but on this issue I feel duty bound.
Our fifth-class girls were among pupils from 40 primary schools who entered a project in the Young Scientist Exhibition in the RDS - and in fact represented one of eight primary schools to receive an award. Last Saturday I sat down to read my copy of The Irish Times, and was delighted to notice the high level of coverage of the Young Scientist Exhibition (reports on pages one, six and seven).
However, my delight rapidly turned to disgust when I realised there was not a single mention of primary schools. Although I subsequently discovered that the website does contain some reference to primary schools, this did not lessen the disappointment for the pupils of our fifth class and their teacher, Carmella Hynes, who had worked very hard to prepare for this event.
We are constantly hearing both from the Department of Education and Science and from the media about how vital it is for the future of this country that our young people should develop scientific skills from a very early age.
In our school, as in many primary schools throughout the
country, teachers have worked hard to develop a scientific culture
for their young students. We are participating in the Discover
Primary Science Award project for our third year; this is our
second year to submit an entry in the Young Scientist Exhibition;
and we will be organising our school's third open science day
during this term. - Yours, etc,
MÁIRÍN BENSON,
Principal,
Our Lady of Mercy Convent School,
Booterstown,
Co Dublin.