Sir, - Your Education Editor, Sean Flynn says (The Irish Times, June 7th) that, as regards the assessment of the work of Leaving Certificate students, "political or business connections count for nothing".
This is not to say that the existing system is immune from external influence. If, as he says, the exam tends to reward students "who can slavishly regurgitate pages and pages of notes", then surely students whose parents can afford expensive grinds for their children are at a distinct advantage. The same brutal efficiency which characterises the Leaving Certificate, in Mr Flynn's opinion, could also describe the methods by which institutions dedicated to providing grinds prepare students for what are, essentially, tests of memory and exam technique.
An analysis of the highest-scoring Leaving Certificate students with reference to their means or social background might reveal that the the exams are "meritocratic, objective and transparent" for some more than others. - Yours, etc.,
Deirdre Ni Fhloinn, Rawson Court, Haddington Road, Dublin 4.