Scholarship Class

Gerry Foley, Headmaster of Belvedere, reports on an important TV programme: “On Monday 2 September at 9.35 p.m., RTE One is showing a documentary on the Belvedere students who are supported by the Social Diversity Programme. Its title: The Scholarship Class of 2018 is slightly misleading, but it is worth watching. The second documentary will be shown on the same station at the same time on 9 September. No doubt it will add to the current debates regarding fee-paying schools. Hopefully it will refocus many on the real issue: how do we address the problem of disadvantage and inequality in terms of educational outcomes?  I want to congratulate the families who allowed the film crew into their lives for over two years. The boys who took part are brave and deserve great praise, for they are still students in the college. I have no doubt they will celebrate their Leaving Cert. results in 2018. However, as the testimonials of so many past pupils show, they will have gained so much more. See the Belvedere website http://www.belvederecollege.ie/  for further details on the documentary and the Social Diversity Programme.”