Sir, - People in favour of publication of league tables appear to have missed a very important point. I cannot see how publication would give accurate information on the quality of teaching in schools, particularly when a large number of students now take grinds. The implication of league tables is that academic success results from just one factor i.e. the school a student attends. This, I believe, is fundamentally flawed because there are a huge number of factors that either contribute to, or hinder, academic success.
In recent years attempts have been made to broaden the educational outlook at second level e.g. introduction of Leaving Certificate Applied. There has also been repeated criticism of the points system. In the light of such developments, it would now seem a complete contradiction to introduce a system that would inevitably put even more pressure on students and teachers to achieve purely academic success. The introduction of a school league table as a system of evaluation of schools would also be misleading. - Yours, etc., Jennifer Sullivan,
Leaving Certificate student 1999, Goatstown, Dublin 14.