Put the focus on pupils who beat the odds

ONCE again the Irish Examiner has highlighted the accomplishments of pupils who achieved straight As and the like in the Leaving Certificate.

How deflating it must feel for pupils who did not do so well to see students pictured with excellent result sheets, and then to read accompanying advertisements showing the achievements of the different private colleges.

While these students no doubt went to great effort in achieving their results, the article (Irish Examiner, August 14) on the mother of four from inner-city Dublin who returned to school revealed a very different type of achievement.