The dunce done good
Certainly, the minister sends platitudinous congratulations to all who took part regardless of result. However, the headlines and photo space are monopolised by those students with the highest points. The casual observer may deduce that the pinnacle of academic achievement in Ireland is represented by the achievement of 600 points in the Leaving Certificate.
In addition, we accept with little question the pleas from industry to make education more “relevant to the economy”, which presumably means that we should tailor the system to specific needs of industry. We may have reservations about increasing class size, we may decry the crumbling school infrastructure and the fact that a decade has passed since the last schools computer initiative. But we rarely, if ever, discuss education itself, what we understand it to mean and what, as a society, we expect from it. In particular, we never examine why the school system does not work for many of its participants.
