O’Keeffe off course

THE Leaving Cert results of 2008 were greeted with calls from all concerned bodies for increased emphasis on science subjects in coming years in the interests of our future economic wellbeing.

The response of the Department of Education has been a mindless decision to abolish secondary schools’ allowances for physics and chemistry — necessitated, it said, by shortage of exchequer funds.

As if to rub salt in the wound, Education Minister Batt O’Keeffe now justifies funding centres of excellence to improve primary teachers’ spoken Irish skills, along with support and training for Irish music and dancing.

In ideal economic times such aspirations towards Irish culture would be commendable.

However funding this while abolishing physics and chemistry in our present predicament would appear to be economic suicide.

Meanwhile, Mr O’Keeffe could reasonably drop the word “science” from his department’s title.

Anne Cahill

Laurel Park

Clondalkin

Dublin 22