Sir, – As one of the EU staff approaching retirement, I would certainly like to see a new cohort of Irish come on board (“The Irish Times view on Irish representation in EU jobs: risk of a waning influence”, August 30th). Irish people have typically held key positions within the EU institutions, which has traditionally ensured Irish influence at the heart of EU policy.
One issue which might deter people moving to Brussels, Luxembourg, or other cities where the EU has staff, is the question of access to Irish universities for their children.
Once again this year, Irish children who sat the European Baccaleaurate without the benefit of any grade inflation faced disappointment due to the uneven playing field. Their ambition to pursue third-level education in the country of their citizenship was thwarted due to an uneven playing field.
The children of EU staff can attend European Schools, which have the mission of providing a multilingual and multieducational schooling. The final examination European Baccalaureate syllabuses are designed and written following negotiations with national experts, particularly the members of the board of inspectors on the basis of detailed comparison of national curriculums.
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Holders of the European Baccalaureate are supposed to enjoy the same rights and benefits as holders of end-of-school education in all member states, including the right to seek admission to universities and higher education institutions.
Many Irish degree programmes are inaccessible to European Baccalaureate students due to ongoing inflation of grades and unfair conversion table. Even without inflation, European Baccalaureate students cannot access maximum point programmes as, unlike the Leaving Cert students, they are not awarded a 100 per cent grade. The top students are awarded 93 per cent to 94 per cent. These students can access the top universities in the UK, Europe and the US but cannot achieve 625 points for equivalent programmes at Irish universities.
Surely European Baccalaureate students deserve the same rights in Ireland as Irish Leaving Certificate students attending other EU member state universities. Thousands of Irish students study at universities throughout the UK and EU member states. There are currently 1,000 Irish students studying in the Netherlands alone. The lack of reciprocity in accessing Irish universities could be damaging to Ireland’s international reputation.
It is, once again, too late for the 2024 secondary graduates, perhaps the third-level institutions could urgently reexamine the equivalence tables and Minister for Education Foley to find a fair solution for next year’s students (for example apply the same percentage uplift as Leaving Cert students get), in face of continued grade inflation. – Yours, etc,
SARAH IRONSIDE,
Brussels,
Belgium.