SIR, – I agree with Gerard Eadie’s comments (P&J September 10) with reference to the extension of the school leaving age from 16 or 17, to 18.
Pupils aged 15 or 16 will know if they wish to proceed to higher education.
They don’t need to be told by UK Government ministers what is right or wrong for them.
You cannot ram education down someone’s throat if they are not interested.
Where has the commonsense gone?
Is this another hare-brained idea for keeping down unemployment, with no real concern for the pupils when they reach the age of 18 without having achieved any worthwhile qualifications?
Instead they could be advancing into their third year in an apprenticeship of which I was privileged to take up at 16.
However, if they are subsequently of a mind to further their education, going to night school could be an option.
It was once compulsory to go to night school during an apprenticeship in order to be deferred from conscription until the age of 21. It was a worthwhile scheme back in the 1950s and one which I am still benefiting from.
Robert McBeath,
Macaulay Gardens,
Aberdeen.
SIR, –I do most of my shopping at Tesco in Inverurie.
I can go to Morrisons in Inverurie and pay £1.09.9 for a litre of unleaded fuel. At Tesco they are selling their unleaded for £1.12.9.
Tesco always states that they will compete with any other filling station within a three-mile radius.
If the people who buy their petrol at Tesco boycotted the chain’s pumps for a full day or even a week, I think they might just take note that the public are not going to be fooled by them.
Hamish Riddell,
Craigmyle Park,
Kemnay.
SIR, – I suggest that rather than take Nicola Barry to task over her column on the problems faced by a mother of a teenager with ASD (P&J, September 29) we should be congratulating her for highlighting this issue.
OK so she’s no expert on the subject but clearly, Mr Thomson (letters, September 29), neither are you. Children and teenagers with ASD are not “sufferers” as you put it. ASD is a lifelong disability.
School can be and frequently is a scary place for children and teenagers with ASD which is perhaps why the school environment can bring out the worst in their behaviour.
Having said that, behaviour such as was mentioned is not exclusive to children with ASD or any other type of disability.
The north-east of Scotland has a higher-than-average incidence of children with ASD, particularly among boys and there is only one mainstream integration of children on the autistic spectrum (Micas) unit with limited places.
Staff may be working under incredible financial pressure but that is not the children’s fault.
Everyone is entitled to an education.
Every family with a child with ASD needs help and support, not condemnation.
Fiona Webster,
Springfield Road,
Kemnay.
SIR, – I thought Aberdeen was trying to cut spending.
Now we find that they are thinking about bailing out the Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre to the tune of £2million. They keep saying that the AECC will be profitable. When?
It seems the city council has been saying this since the AECC opened.
Why then is the AECC in debt to the tune of £16million even after receiving funding of £650,000 a year from Aberdeen City Council and also being bailed out regularly?
Is it not time that the city council got rid of this white elephant by putting it out to private tender or even selling it?
Where will the £2million be coming from? The city council would be better off using this money to reopen the places they closed or putting it back into education.
It seems stupid that there are schools with broken windows that cannot be replaced yet they are willing to put money into a financial disaster.
Aberdeen City Council do not seem to have learned from past mistakes and are still continuing to lead Aberdeen into bankruptcy.
Stan Domeracki,
Craig Gardens,
Cults, Aberdeen.
SIR, – Referring to the article in the Press and Journal (September 29), Aberdeen City Council is taking away the chance for pupils, parents and residents in the Mile End area to choose the name for the “New Mile End School” as the large billboard announces at the site, because they don’t like the probable result of the vote.
That’s democracy for you. In not supporting local wishes, our local councillor seems to have a death wish regarding the next election.
Christine Paterson,
Raeden Park Road,
Aberdeen.
SIR, – The P&J has highlighted the disgraceful school bus situation (September 23).
For years I have been aware of this problem, which has led to the deaths of yet more schoolchildren.
In the armed services all school buses have an escort to convey the children across roads and there is no overtaking when the buses are stationary. This is the law.
Authorities have obviously ignored the situation. Newspapers have highlighted this to no avail.
The powers that be should take action now.
Jim Birnie,
Holburn Street,
Aberdeen.