Sir, – We cannot keep on producing all sheriffs and no cowboys or we will run out of Polish builders and Latvian electricians to import. We need to give apprenticeships and craftsmanship the recognition that they deserve and the country needs. At least modifying the school feeder tables (Education, January 7th), this annual celebration of elitism, would be a start! – Yours, etc,
JOHN K ROGERS,
Rathowen,
Co Westmeath.
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Sir, – Early each January, your newspaper publishes an article on fee-charging schools and university access, and this year is no exception.
The substance of the articles is that students in fee-charging second-level schools are more likely to progress to the more sought-after university courses.
The reader is invited to draw the inference that the fee-charging schools are providing their students with a boost in Leaving Certificate (CAO) points, and thus contribute to inequality in educational outcomes in Irish society.
This is a plausible and widespread view.
A different possibility is that students attending fee-charging schools come from more affluent backgrounds, and this affluence helps them in a number of ways in achieving better CAO results.
Yet another possibility is that the average academic ability across schools may differ significantly.
Weighing up these possibilities is an important educational and social challenge, with implications for policy and investment, merit and fairness.
Could the Department of Education assist in resolving this question? The standard “Drumcondra” tests carried out with children in primary school provide a good snapshot of individual student ability. If the scores for children in their sixth-class Drumcondra tests were linked with their subsequent CAO points, along with information on whether they attended a fee-charging second-level school or not, then the “add-on” or impact of attending fee-charging schools could be assessed. If the Department of Education could make available an anonymised large representative dataset to researchers (including myself!), then this question could easily be resolved. – Yours, etc,
Dr MICHAEL O’CONNELL,
Associate Professor,
School of Psychology,
University College Dublin,
Dublin 4.