Sean Barrett (Independent) | Oireachtas source

In pages 1, 8 and 26 of the Irish Independent today, there is a long series of articles on education. One is entitled "CAO shake-up to take heat out of points race". The CAO is simply a device by which a scarce number of university places are allocated among people about to sit the leaving certificate examination, and that is all it is. The article states, "The initial step will be a dramatic reduction in the number of courses available to [new] CAO applicants". As with so much in education these days, this provision comes courtesy of six quangos, a virtual alphabet soup including IUA, IOTI, SEC, HEA and NCCA. I am sure there are more in the wings. The bodies are against specialised courses and want to reduce the number of options on the basis that it will reduce stress. There are so many non sequiturs that it is hard to know where to begin. Points are a good guide to how students perform, and a lack of points is a good guide to suggesting who will not be able to cope with third level. The CAO is inexpensive and is certainly preferable to interviews, letter writing or representations, as we know in a society that is so wedded to clientelism. The degrees meet the standards of international external examiners.

We should not present false dawns to people who are studying hard for their examinations. We wish them every success. So much does not hang together in the three pages of the Irish Independent that one would be worried if any students were taken away from their studies by bothering with it. A lack of points is an indicator that life will be difficult. Getting points is, of course, difficult, but the number of places we are trying to allocate at third level is lower than the number of applicants. The CAO, founded by a former Provost of Trinity College, Mr. Bill Watts, is the equitable way to do that. I sometimes believe less emphasis on bureaucracy and more on what happens in the classroom is an example that Irish university heads should follow.