A chara, - Those most affected by the teachers' dispute have been the students, yet they have little real opportunity to comment on the issues involved, except through the media. Their contributions, however, have frequently been both eloquent and to the point.
In that regard, I would hope that there is an opportunity for students to have an input in a meaningful way into any review of teaching and the education system.
It is perhaps also time that students be granted representation on school boards of management as they are perhaps the only partners in the education system without a voice on this key decision-making body. This already happens in many other European countries.
As both the Department and the ASTI have stressed the importance of students' interests in recent weeks when advancing their cases, I am sure they will have no objection to students voicing their concerns in their own right at any decision-making table regarding second-level education. - Is mise,
Malcolm Byrne, (Fianna Fail member, Gorey Town Commissioners), Ramsfort Avenue, Gorey, Co Wexford.