Sir, – Lists of so-called “feeder schools” promote a view that educational success is solely dependent on students achieving entry to third-level courses that require high points.
However, a school’s mission has always been more expansive and generous than such a narrow vision suggests. Each student is unique and each has an individual set of talents. For many, completion of the Leaving Certificate itself is a major achievement. Others may have special educational needs and more again may be relative newcomers to Ireland with a first language other than English.
The struggles and achievements of such students cannot be translated into cold, empirical data. If third-level access rates were the only indicator of the success or otherwise of a school, the true meaning of education would be severely distorted.
Ultimately, the publication of these lists leads to invalid comparisons that is damaging to the fully inclusive school that admits all the children of the community. – Yours, etc,
JOANNE IRWIN
President,
Teachers’ Union of Ireland,
Dublin 6.