Madam, - I welcome the publication of statistics on third-level access from secondary schools. Parents, students and the public at large have the right to know what policy-makers have known for years about entry to third level.
However, the Minister for Education must not be allowed to manipulate these statistics to promote his ambition of bringing back college fees and removing State funding from fee-paying schools.
It is not surprising that fee-paying schools top the league tables when it comes to college access. This is much less a reflection of the quality of these schools than of the background from which their students come. Fee-paying schools are attended disproportionately by young men and women from professional, educated backgrounds.
They come from families with no farms or businesses to inherit and no trades to follow into. Attending college is expected of them and in many respects is the only option. Thus, it is not surprising that the State schools which do feature highly in the league tables are located largely in middle-class areas with a high concentration of professional families. Admittedly, this is less apparent outside the cities.
Removing State support from fee-paying schools and reintroducing college fees would not improve access to third-level education. Rather, it would drive many middle-classes families out of fee-paying schools and restrict them to an even wealthier and more privileged élite. The statistics would get worse, not better. Furthermore, it would cause even more people to ask why they should continue to pay so much tax when the Government is forcing them to pay fees to go to school and college on top of paying for their own health insurance and pensions.
Dividing Ireland into a country of those who pay for everything and receive nothing and those who pay for nothing and receive everything, with only a small minority in between, would deal a fatal blow to what is left of Ireland's social contract.
Mr Dempsey should look for more imaginative solutions. As secondary school numbers fall and college places continue to rise, why not reserve 10 per cent (or so) of places for students from disadvantaged backgrounds and for adults looking for a second chance to get a college education?
Rather than taking funding away from fee-paying schools and making them entirely a law unto themselves, why not require fee-paying schools to take a quota of students from disadvantaged backgrounds in return for their State funding? - Yours, etc.,
LEO VARADKAR, Roselawn Road, Castleknock, Dublin 15.
Madam, - It came as a surprise to many to learn from your report in Monday's edition that more and more parents are sending their children to private secondary schools. Like many others, I see it as highlighting the two-tier education system - and arguably the two-tier social and economic system - that exists in Ireland.
The reasons why parents choose private schools are manifold but for those who do not the reality is that they simply cannot afford it. Even if they could, I would argue that they should not.
The advantages of going to State schools are numerous but rarely highlighted. The obvious ones are the fact that public schools have a better pupil-teacher ratio than many private schools. Many State schools have now also got more inclusive facilities that cater for all students. However, the prime advantage of State schools is that they aim at creating well-rounded individuals. There is a concern that private grind schools are merely preparing young adults for exams and not for life. The problem intensifies at university where many students are obsessed with rote learning, memorising essays, and with the exam paper itself, rather than the area that they are studying.
Second-level education should be geared towards the needs of the individual and society as a whole, not just towards getting high points in the Leaving Cert. How much open discussion is allowed in a class oriented solely towards an exam paper? How much individual critical analysis is encouraged among students who are practically given their exam answer? None.
Mr Dempsey should end without hesitation the €77 million spent by the State in support of private, fee-paying schools. This money should then be invested in access schemes for third-level education, or used to restore the back-to-education allowance, or to reopen the summer jobs scheme that was axed from the educational budget last year.
The gap between those who go to college and those who do not is frightfully wide. It must be closed; for Mr Dempsey to take these baby steps must be a priority. - Yours, etc.,
AIDAN REGAN, Deputy President, Students' Union, UCD, Dublin 4.
Madam, - If my son were old enough to attend a fee-paying school it would be far less of a financial burden than the crêche he currently attends! - Yours, etc.,
NIAMH GERAGHTY, Railway Avenue, Inchicore, Dublin 8.