Madam, – John B Reid (April 27th) asserts that the zeal and passion of the priests and nuns is lacking in today’s teachers. If the reports of liberal corporal punishment meted out to my father and uncles during their school days are to be believed, then this is a kind of zeal I am thankful not to have experienced during my education.
I was a pupil at Marian College in Ballsbridge from 1995 to 2000, and the (lay) teachers I met there are some of the most inspirational characters I have ever come across. In their efforts to educate the whole person, and not merely to cater to academic excellence, they went above and beyond the call of duty, as they continue to do to this day.
I have many close friends who are now school teachers and who, in spite of the relentless cutting of budgets and erosion of their conditions of employment, continue to do their work with passion and vision, giving up swathes of their personal time day-in day-out to run extra-curricular activities that would cease to exist without their dedication. These talented people are an asset to the schools they work in and the pupils they teach and, I can assure Mr Reid, match pound for pound the passion of any priest. – Yours, etc,