Madam, - As a history teacher, I read with interest and concern the coverage of the launch of Diarmuid Ferriter's book Judging Dev ( The Irish Times, October 14th). The Taoiseach was reported as saying that the book was "more than ever necessary as history is studied less and less in schools. I see it in my travels up and down the country in first- and second-, and in third-level for that matter."
As a history teacher in a second-level school, I can tell him that the numbers studying history at Leaving Certificate level have risen by 10 per cent in the past two years. An Editorial in your edition of August 15th noted that the Leaving Cert results showed encouraging trends in history, with an increase in the numbers taking the subject at higher level.
- Is mise,
MÁIRE DE BUITLÉIR, Clontarf, Dublin 3.