Monday's Letters: There are too many students and not enough real subjects

University education is by its very nature elitist, in that it should be the very best of educational achievers who attend our universities. This can never be 50 per cent of all school leavers.

Mr Blair's mistake is in the wrong appliance of the term "elitist", he was suggesting that children from poorer backgrounds were precluded from going to university because their parents could not afford the fees to send them there, hence they were elitist to the more wealthy parts of our society.

What his government should have done was set exams to find the brightest 10-20 per cent of children and they should then go to university and if their parents could not afford this, then the government should have sponsored them.

Instead he chose to lower pass rates – I read somewhere you can now pass with a mark of 25 per cent? – turn technical colleges into universities and introduce non-university courses such as sociology, drama, media studies, sports science and a whole host of other subjects which are all but useless in the real world, which explains why 22 per

cent of male degree students and 13 per cent of female degree students are out of work and have no prospect of getting a job using their degrees.

These unfortunate young people have been sadly conned by Mr Blair and have basically wasted three years of their lives attending what are in reality re-named technical colleges to study subjects that employers do not want. It is a real tragedy for those young people who are victims of one of Blair's biggest scams.

The proposed cuts to funding are therefore easy to apply, cut out all the new non-core university departments, sociology et al and move the funding to the subjects that made this country great, the various branches of engineering, the sciences – chemistry, physics etc, medicine, maths, history and geography and the law.

People with degrees in these subjects are in short supply and therefore are never short of job opportunities.

The re-named technical colleges should then be returned to technical college status and provide the many excellently trained young tradesmen and women that they used to supply to all kinds of employers.

Of course, we also need to remove all the EU red tape which strangles the life out of our manufacturing base in order to provide the future jobs for our young people.

From: D Wood, Thorntree Lane, Goole.

New thinking needed over 'titan schools'

From: Sandy MacPherson, Wheatley Lane, Ben Rhydding, Ilkley.

YOUR article "Growing concern at titan schools" (Yorkshire Post, February 10) expressed some of the concerns which the newly formed Wharfedale Action Group have about the attempt to ravage the green belt

around Ilkley.

The planning application is fatally weak in this area as well as being riddled with mistakes and conflicting figures such as the one which appears in your quote from the deputy head.

He is quoted as saying that "we're catering for the local community, we're not pulling in students from all over the shop".

Last week, the school emailed parents to say that they only had 53 pupils from Keighley and Silsden.

If Bradford Council wants a North Bradford Grammar School, it should come clean. It really doesn't inspire confidence when such conflicting figures are bandied about.

Moreover, one of our members contacted many other schools in the district and it appears most have vacancies.

One result of this is that pupils will be passing equally good schools such as Bingley Grammar school on the way to Ilkley – never mind all those from Keighley who could go to a nearer school.

A bit of joined up thinking from the education authorities in Bradford wouldn't go amiss.

Keep our heritage

From: Terry Duncan, Greame Road, Bridlington, East Yorkshire.

IS it right to rip out the centre of an old seaside town at the behest of modernists?

I often drive along Hilderthorpe Road and Quay Road, all named after fading parishes of Bridlington.

I recall in my earlier working years, five decades ago, after moving from Scotland, to East Anglia, when Norwich saved its heritage.

That forward-looking council came to an agreement for all the rather neglected buildings to be refurbished and each painted in contrasting pastel colours on the upper floors – just like Tobermory on the Isle of Mull, with local council financial backing for every property owner.

The areas in both the big city and the Inner Hebridean town flourish more than they did more half-a-century ago.

Would it not be preferable if the many architects, planners, and drawing board geeks at Beverley be better employed in improving than destroying and keeping town heritage?

Just a thought.

Questions over veils

From: M Hellawell, Cross Lane, Scarborough.

FAROOQ Aftab gave a very clear and interesting explanation on Muslim dress codes (Yorkshire Post, February 6) and the relation to religious practice of Islam. I do however have two questions I would like answers to. Firstly, who actually started the idea of veiling the face, because nowhere in the Koran can I find this? It seems very sad to hide God's creation of a lovely face behind a face veil.

Secondly, why black? Black is a negative colour of death and mourning. God created beautiful colours.

In some countries Muslim women wear the most beautiful gowns and head veils but do not cover their faces. Is it not time that the whole practice was perhaps reconsidered and some changes made?

A lot of people have the impression that the males are too dominant and pressure the women. This is sad, and does not help integration into Western society.

Signal failures

From: David Gray, Buttershaw Lane, Liversedge.

YOUR correspondent Godfrey Lomas (Yorkshire Post, February 9) was making a good point on the habits of drivers.

Many drive without lights in fog, mist or twilight, or insist on blinding others with their fog lights, even though visibility is better than the stated guidelines.

Perhaps they do not realise that rear fog lights show your presence better, but disguise the brake lights as they are of similar intensity. The lack of signalling is becoming more and more of an issue.

Less tolerant

From: David Quarrie, Lynden Way, Holgate, York.

FAROOQ Aftab (Yorkshire Post, February 6) says that the West has superior levels of human rights, equality and tolerance. I think our "tolerance" is the worst feature of living in Britain.

Home Secretary Alan Johnson claims that fertility and mortality have a bigger bearing on population figures than immigration – that is certainly not the case in today's Britain.

Our children's sporting talents are going to waste

From: JW Slack, Swinston Hill Road, Dinnington, Sheffield.

Bill Bridge (Yorkshire Post, February 8) rightly points out the great divide between the sports facilities enjoyed by fee-paying schools as opposed to state schools.

The former tend to have well-maintained grounds and quality coaching, plus connections with good clubs backed by supportive and well-heeled parents, plus feeder fee-paying schools for younger children, and with facilities sufficiently good to be deemed good enough for league cricket teams to hire for third and fourth teams.

Contrast this with the comprehensive school in a former mining town where the local cricket club is struggling to survive and the school facilities themselves are really sub-standard in many areas – except possibly those with all-weather surfaces.

The concern over child obesity, beginning apparently in the pre-school years, is due in part to the lack of free exercise in many childhood games and the fact that hard-pressed primary school teachers grappling with the full curriculum have rarely the all-round sports knowledge or the inclination to organise inter-school competitions in a variety of sports throughout the year. There is a lack of serious back-up for this in community activities, largely through adult apathy and the complexity of qualifying to do voluntary work with children.

Except, of course, in football which now occupies about 12 months of the year. Local junior leagues – very well run – cream off local children from the age of six, often select a squad for the season and leave many disappointed children with nothing to do and nowhere to go. Pitches are at a premium and are quite expensive to hire. In cricket, the development of the game is concentrated particularly with those clubs which have reached "focus" status – many other clubs are withering on the vine.

Many state schools do not receive the back-up they deserve from the community which existed in the past – freedom of choice for schools being an extra problem – but there is no doubt in my mind that much talent is going to waste through the decline of communities and the failure of sporting bodies to give more favourable access to funds for poorer ones.

Too many children never get properly involved.

A recipe for extreme change

From: R Brandon, Doncaster Road, Worksop.

BARRIE Frost's observations are entirely accurate (Yorkshire Post, February 12). There seems to be an unrelenting agenda to weaken Britain by being soft on the persistently criminal or unruly, indifferent to the plight of victims, and intolerant of those who stand up to the law-breakers.

Add to this the tighter controls continually imposed on useful members of society, and we have the recipe for extreme social change in Britain which undoubtedly drives our European masters and their puppets in Parliament and Whitehall.

No entry

From: Brian Hardy, All Hallowes Drive, Tickhill, Doncaster.

I AGREE entirely with Jean Skowronek''s views on Turkey's possible entry into the European Union (Yorkshire Post, February 8). It must be remembered that for many years the Government has been the number one cheerleader for Turkey's entry, ably supported by both the Conservative and Liberal Democrat parties.

We should all be very afraid of Turkey's teeming millions queuing up to enter Britain. The consequences for this country will be horrendous.

Bailout ban

From: MK O'Sullivan, Victoria Street, Allerton Bywater, Castleford.

IF the Greek government is to be offered a bailout by the other Eurozone countries, I hope that Gordon Brown will resist any calls for Britain to contribute (Yorkshire Post, February 12).

I suggest that Gordon Brown and David Cameron make it clear where they stand on this issue. Britain has a huge long-term debt problem to confront, and making payments to Greece is not our responsibility.