tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-802872038675042201.post408563236854624270..comments2023-11-02T01:16:01.158-07:00Comments on Fiche Focal ...: Getting a Start in LifeTomaltachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06472288290882778889noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-802872038675042201.post-51917928491923772562008-10-19T14:19:00.000-07:002008-10-19T14:19:00.000-07:00I am currently involved in a consultation on the r...I am currently involved in a consultation on the regeneration of the Liberties in Dublin. <BR/><BR/>I am very struck by the difference in ethnic composition between the population of the area and those who turn up at the consultations.<BR/><BR/>There is a significant ethnic population if the area but they are completely absent from the consultation. Perhaps this is a reflection of the low local participation in the process, though this has been increasing over recent months.<BR/><BR/>It is quite disturbing, though, as it is clear that there is significant ethnic participation in the activities of the local parish centre.Pólóhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08661092894104384856noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-802872038675042201.post-65036856162135322482008-09-26T02:00:00.000-07:002008-09-26T02:00:00.000-07:00In the past we had a method, but it was a haven fo...In the past we had a method, but it was a haven for every bas-tard with an axe to grind. Sorry I getting ahead of myself. The schools system will never be what those kids need and there is in every school a cohort that the system does not fit, for one reason or another. But the system works for most and for those it works for they come out with a hardness -the if I could do it than why cannot they do it- But that does not get to the nub of the issue. Which is that this is happening in each and every state where our system is in operation from NZ USA UK here, all of them.<BR/>I was went to high school within the first ten years of the free education, and have seen at first hand the unique social engineering in operation with the patricians. Those kids who would have payed were streamed to 1;1 day one. Nothing odd about this, well there was only one boys primary in this little town so they should have gotten the same at least on the surface the same. During my Bolshy period I believed this to be a set up. And there was an aspect of this, it was not the whole story. Much of the school advantage came from the home.<BR/>Your kids and mine, if I ever have any, will have a distinct advantage because we know that education is a process and can programme the kids to absorb. And will cut this process to the cloth we have.<BR/>Back to the main point, The system did have schools which could have been used but because of the level of hell on this earth that they generated, were removed.<BR/>When Monsignor Flaherty -boys towns- came here in the late 30s he was shocked with what he came across.Vincehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09442327549417743472noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-802872038675042201.post-70746936551693020092008-09-25T01:23:00.000-07:002008-09-25T01:23:00.000-07:00Vince,I think the additional burden of teaching ch...Vince,<BR/>I think the additional burden of teaching children with a poor ability in English will put extra strain on the system. But probably nothing that can't be dealt with with some extra language resources. Given the contribution of our immigrants, I think it's a small price to pay.<BR/><BR/>You are right that it is too late to give many kids the start we would like, but it is right to try and give at least some of them a better start. Even to teach them how to read and write and do basic calculations will benefit them enormously.<BR/><BR/>But the big picture is social. And it requires enormous effort and vision to tackle it. Something our political system isn't very good at.Tomaltachhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06472288290882778889noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-802872038675042201.post-54324291608483572272008-09-24T16:02:00.000-07:002008-09-24T16:02:00.000-07:00The problem, Dear Lord, the problem comes from fix...The problem, Dear Lord, the problem comes from fixing the current one and not thinking on the next. That school was designed to fix a issue of the 1880s. In the coming years we will have the new Irish, and it is not racist to think that there will be problems and fixing them will require something more than a weird cross between Blackrock and a prison.<BR/>And much as I hate to say it, it is too late for those kids in that system and it was before they were born.Vincehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09442327549417743472noreply@blogger.com