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Irish Independent

Letters: Until Eurovision political scream-fest reverts to real song contest, RTÉ should opt out

Thankfully Austria won and we didn't have the political embarrassment of Israel winning. So it should be 'so long, farewell, auf wiedersehen, au revoir and a good night' until it returns to a proper song contest, if ever. There are better things for RTÉ to spend its budget on. Aidan Roddy, Cabinteely, Dublin 18 John Burns can be grateful he wasn't a TV actor in the '70s – he'd have gone broke As someone who has been trying for years to lose a stone in weight, I was hugely impressed by John Burns's account of how he lost eight times that ('Few will mourn the death of WeightWatchers, but I certainly don't miss the eight stone it helped me lose', Irish Independent, May 16). It's all the more impressive given that Mr Burns worked in journalism, a trade given to long hours and shift work. However, he was lucky he wasn't an actor. In the 1960s and '70s, Patrick Newell (1932-1988) specialised in playing rotund villains or comic characters. His most famous part was that of Mother in The Avengers TV series alongside Diana Rigg and Patrick Macnee. Newell described himself as an 'actor with a weight problem' because the more he tried to diet, the less work he got. Karl Martin, Bayside, Dublin 13 Teacher concerns about Leaving reform are valid – McEntee should listen Education Minister Helen McEntee has warned that secondary school teachers could lose up to 5pc of pay due under public service deals if they fail to co-operate with proposed Leaving Cert reforms. This confrontational approach is ill-advised as teachers have legitimate concerns about the integrity, equity and fairness of the proposed 'Additional Assessment Components' (AAC), based on candidates' unsupervised external work. An AAC will be worth at least 40pc of the marks and is reputedly designed to assess students' skills and competencies in a way that a terminal written exam cannot. All new and revised Leaving Cert subjects will include at least one AAC. Seven revised Leaving Cert subjects as well as two new subjects, Drama, Film and Theatre Studies, and Climate Action and Sustainable Development are due for introduction in September. Further sets of revised subjects will be phased in annually until 2029. The official view that the AAC will reduce the stress on students at the terminal written exams is psychologically naive. Teachers have concerns about the Leaving Cert reforms, particularly the acceleration of their implementation amid growing concerns about assessment integrity. Teachers feel there is a lack of knowledge and guidance on the use of AI and on the authentication of students' work. Smaller class sizes, more access to IT in classrooms, more support for students with special education needs and less well-off students are also priorities for teachers. The minister must take the teachers' concerns on board as the devil is in the detail. Consider the effect of the AAC in higher-level maths. The AAC is worth at least 40pc of the marks – grade H6, or 46 CAO points. But as 25 bonus points are awarded in higher-level maths for grade H6 or above, many candidates will have scored 71 CAO points in maths ever before sitting the terminal exam. Expect the AI experts to jump on that gravy train. Billy Ryle, Tralee, Co Kerry I don't want a librarian fixing my car and the same logic applies for educators Labour's Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill which is being discussed at present will require new teachers to have earned 'Qualified Teacher Status' or be working to obtain it. It would seem obvious a teacher had to be a teacher in fact, not just in name. Covid demonstrated that every parent believed they could be a teacher to their own children until they actually tried to do it, and realised that on Friday afternoons, some students' enthusiasm waned – and many had even waned by Monday afternoon. Appropriate qualifications are needed, not just advisable. I don't want my car serviced by a librarian, nor do I ask for reading advice from a mechanic. I want people who know what they are doing after having studied and developed experience in their specialty. In hindsight, however, I have to admit that much of my own four-year teaching degree was a waste of time and practical experience was the best way to develop my classroom skills. Dennis Fitzgerald, Melbourne, Australia US president will reap the whirlwind of his carnage when mid-terms come up US president Trump has had many failures and in fairness, some successes. For instance, he failed to fix the Ukraine-Russia war in 24 hours. He failed to solve the genocidal war in Gaza and failed to make Canada the 51st state. He has failed to take over Greenland and the Panama Canal. His deluded tariff war has backfired spectacularly, leading to increased inflation and possibly a recession. As for his successes, he has managed to make the US a world laughing stock and he himself its greatest buffoon – if a dangerous one. He has also succeeded in alienating America's closest allies and needlessly disrupted the global trading system. The only consolation is that many of his MAGA supporters, as they face increasing prices while they lose their jobs, medical aid and social insurance, are slowly beginning to realise that they were conned by Trump and his sycophants and will hopefully respond accordingly in the mid-term elections next year. John Leahy, Wilton Road, Cork No child should have to live with impaired vision because of cost constraints As a grandmother, I never imagined a child's ability to see would depend on their family's ability to pay. My granddaughter is four. She has a +7.5 prescription in one eye and +7.25 in the other. The HSE covers one pair of glasses, including lens thinning, but that's where the help ends. When the time came to get a second pair, we had to pay €270. It cost €170 to thin the lenses, €100 for frames. For many families, that is impossible. No child should be left unable to see because their parents or guardians can't afford a back-up. This is something the HSE and our politicians need to urgently fix. Catherine Masterson, Carlow