Skill shortage

I'm shocked that so many children now arrive at school lacking some of the basic skills they should already have acquired. Such as:

• How to have a conversation
• How to play with toys
• How to focus on a task for more than two minutes
• How to hold a pen or pencil
• How to throw or kick a ball
• How to use a paperback
• How to follow a story
• How to interact with other children

These failings are attributed to the Covid lockdowns, when children were stuck in the home; children glued to screens rather than engaging in physical activity or exploring the outside world; and parents who think children will develop these skills naturally and don't need parental instruction.

Teachers are having to teach these basic skills on top of their already heavy workload. They could do without it.

When I started school aged five I certainly had all the necessary basic skills, as did my classmates, and there was no question of our needing special instruction. The idea would have struck us as ludicrous.

Unfortunately, unless screen use suddenly declines, it looks as if this shameful situation can only get worse rather than better.

Religious setback

In a remarkable judgment, the British Supreme Court has ruled that religious teaching in Northern Ireland is unlawful!

The court says it's unlawful on several grounds - firstly, it's not conveyed in an "objective, critical and pluralistic manner" but focuses uncritically on the Christian doctrine; secondly, it doesn't include religions other than Christianity; thirdly, pupils are stigmatised if they decide to opt out of religious teaching.

This is quite a bombshell for Northern Ireland schools, which will have to radically change the way they teach religion. Of course schools should  cover a range of religions and not treat Christianity as the only religion worth studying.

The legal action was taken by a father and his daughter who attended a Belfast primary school. She was being taught that Christianity was an absolute truth.

The school defends its religious teaching, saying it's "Bible-based" and follows the core religious syllabus for religion.

I had a look at the core religious syllabus (all 38 pages of it) which says pupils should develop an awareness of the key Christian teachings. Nowhere does it mention any other religions.

I'm astonished that such an obviously biased syllabus wasn't updated decades ago.

Standing firm

My mother (Audrey) would never have called herself a feminist ("they're so strident and aggressive and obsessed"), but she nevertheless believed in women being strong and not being pushed around by men.

She stood up to my father when he opposed her wish to train as a teacher (or a schoolmarm as he put it). He wanted her to stay at home and be the diligent housewife she had always been. He didn't want anything to interfere with his cosy domestic routine.

But my mother resisted him and went ahead with learning to drive and then training as a primary school teacher. She knew that if she didn't follow her long-standing urge to try her hand at teaching she'd always regret it.

She taught for something like ten years and adored every minute of it. She loved helping her pupils to improve their reading and writing and maths and simply encouraging them to enjoy learning.

As it happened, my father died just a few years after she retired and his intransigent stance died with him. I don't think he ever came to terms with my mother's steadfast resolve to follow her own path.

I thought her attitude was wonderful and I supported her every inch of the way. It would have been a terrible shame if on her death bed she had voiced her regret at not having done something she dearly wanted to do.

I never asked her, but I imagine she was very pleased that women today are encouraged to be whatever they want to be and make the most of their abilities.