YP Letters: New methods needed to aid our education

From: Neil Richardson, Kirkheaton.
How can the life chances of young people be improved in 2018?How can the life chances of young people be improved in 2018?
How can the life chances of young people be improved in 2018?

LORD Wallace (The Yorkshire Post, December 20) gives a positive direction to begin the New Year: improving life chances in a ‘broken society’ through the mechanism of education, housing, and employment.

He notes that in some deprived communities teacher turnover is too high, ironically the very areas where early-years education and better social mobility is most important.

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Two of the suggestions made by Lord Wallace are the management of summer schools and a need to recruit ‘bright graduates with enthusiasm’ within priority areas.

However, this seems to argue for more of the same, ie teachers handing over knowledge.

And a few readers might reasonably ask whether William Wallace was swinging a two-handed sword at recrutiment methods – aren’t the vast majority of practitioners bright and enthusiastic?

Your comment pages should have given space to the potential for new approaches in cash-strapped 2018, especially the involvement of parents and other family members who share as much time with youngsters as the next wave of teaching and support staff.

When success breeds success

From: JKM Krawiec, Station Road, North Thoresby.

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YOUR editorials, and the comments of your columnist Tom Richmond regarding the disparity between transport investment in the North and London, are well founded.

To further the argument, it needs to be remembered that London was a city in decline back in the 1960s. Since then, it has received mega investment, starting with the M25, the London Light railway etc.

It is doubtful if those initial investments would have passed current Government criteria but their success is now self-evident and is used to justify further investment.

It is very arguable that substantial investment in the North would thus generate growth justifying even further investment.

The Cabinet soap opera

From: John Appleyard, Firthcliffe Parade, Liversedge.

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THERESA May’s sacking of her deputy Damian Green so close to Christmas reminded me of the EastEnders Christmas edition years ago when ‘Dirty Den’ handed his wife Angie the divorce papers and wished her a Happy Christmas!

Mr Green was the third Cabinet Minister to go in recent months and shows the Tories going into the New Year in turmoil once again.

Why not grit pavements?

From: DS Boyes, Upper Rodley Lane, Leeds.

JUST like those never-ending sordid TV soap operas, the incompetence of Leeds City Council under Labour control goes on and on and on.

After days of sub-zero temperatures, followed by heavy rain, was it beyond the wit of anyone at the Civic Hall to grit pavements, especially near where OAPs like me use pelican crossings to access, for example, a post office?

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Folowing my heavy fall, I was lucky, at 74, not to have been going to A&E. Leeds City Council is so badly run, that it is time that the Government intervened.

In support of Uber taxis

From: Chris Gott, Moorgate York.

FURTHER to recent articles and correspondence, I support Uber’s licence application for York.

Although Uber should have come clean on the hackers earlier, they did pay the ransom to protect their clients. Hopefully now they have more robust systems in place to stop a reoccurrence.

The good points about Uber is that when you call a cab you see the driver’s photo, the car registration.

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You can track where your cab is and you know the amount you have to pay. You can also opt to share a cab, thus reducing the cost. As all the money is traceable and not cash in hand. I am sure this will please HMRC.

Bridge work took too long

From: A Hague, Bellbrooke Grove, Leeds.

REPAIRS to Linton Bridge have been completed at last this month, but why did it take 18 months? Shops nearby have lost money over this and long detours have ensued.

The Chinese would have built a village and three bridges in that time.

No stamp of approval

From: ME Wright, Harrogate.

LIKE Jayne Dowle (The Yorkshire Post, December 21), I still value the tradition of the Christmas card. However, this year’s forty quid for stamps made me stop and think.

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It’s not paying the Royal Mail staff which jars; it’s the thought of funding the skiing holidays 
of David Cameron’s 
stockbroking chums and their shareholders.

The sales are never ending

From: Max Nottingham, St Faith’s Street, Lincoln.

SO the New Year sales start earlier and earlier. We are heading towards all the year round sales. Give us a break, retailers.

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