Sir, - It was with irritation that I read the anti-teacher letter penned by Vera Hughes (October 31st). She places the blame for any literacy problems in the Irish education system firmly on the shoulders of the nation's teachers.
In every country there is a proportion of young people who have difficulties coping with literacy. The causes are many: environment; family background; innate learning difficulties, such as dyslexia; and the current culture in society. Some learning problems can be attributed to medical and psychological sources. Another major influence militating against the development of literacy, is the general dumbing-down of reading and spelling by the advent of computers. Children have become addicted to computer and video games, which are purely sensory and require neither written nor verbal communication with another person. These modern distractions have largely replaced reading. Even when a student uses the word processor, s/he is assisted by a spell-check!
Furthermore, young people are attracted to the MTV and youth culture, which can never be accused of being pro-literacy.
Teachers are the only professional body which actually takes directions from people outside its profession - i.e. teachers impart what the Department of Education tells them to impart! Parsing of sentences have given way to new methods of teaching the curriculum - handed down by people who are not teachers!
Primary and secondary teachers are fighting an uphill battle with all of these influences, yet our system of education has been rated second in the world after Singapore by a United Nations source and first in the world by the World Competitiveness League.
Perhaps Ms Hughes should write letters complaining about the 33 per cent increase demanded some time ago by our politicians. Are they the best in the world? - Yours, etc.,
Peter McDonagh Mst., B.A., H.D.E., D.T.C. (Member of ASTI), Priory Avenue, Mount Merrion, Co Dublin.