Madam, – Jim O’Hara (Opinion, July 8th) is concerned Ireland allocates less than the OECD norm on teaching maths and science. This, for him, is a problem because “A smart economy demands that today’s students are equipped with 21st-century skills, such as problem-solving, design, innovation, communications and creativity”. However, it seems to me many subjects, other than maths and science, develop students’ skills in these domains. – Yours, etc,