Visits by M.P.

Press, 27 July 1987, Page 12

Visits by M.P.

Sir,—ln the “Education exPress” section (July 13) Ruth Richardson writes that she has made it her business to visit all the schools in her electorate to talk to them about the work of Parliament in a non-partisan fashion and to answer any questions. I have taught at Lincoln High School, the largest school in Miss Richardson’s electorate, since 1982 and in that time Miss Richardson has visited the school once only to speak at a prizegiving. During the last parliamentary term Miss Richardson

has not been to the school at all. This seems typical of her answers to questions put to her in the article — plausible at a glance, but on inspection inaccurate and misleading. She makes a number of impressivesounding statements, but fails to back them up with evidence. She seems to be appealing to the prejudices and misconceptions about education and other issues which, while commonly held, do not stand up to close inspection. — Yours, etc., KEVIN McSWEENEY, Science teacher, Lincoln High School. July 13, 1987.

[Miss Richardson replies: “As I paused for breath in the thick of a typically heavy schedule of early childhood, primary, intermediate and secondary school visits in both the Selwyn electorate and around the country, not to mention my frequent forays into the polytechs, teachers colleges and universities, Kevin McSweeney’s letter crosses my desk complaining that I have not been to Lincoln High School during the current parliamentary term. Mr McSweeney is wrong. I was, in fact, at the school in 1985 to give the guest speech at Lincoln High’s twenty-fifth jubilee - r celebrations. More recently, I have had the sadness of sharing the trauma of the previous principal’s illness, and then lamenting his death. I have also had the thrill of being able to welcome the new principal, Rod Browning, to the school, having seen him in action at Westland High as an exciting leader in education. In politics, one expects to encounter those who are not concerned to let the truth spoil a good story. I do not expect to encounter that behaviour from those who have responsibility in education.”]