Diversity does not have to mean competition

DIVERSITY should surely mean sharing, learning and understanding, not division into competing groups.

I agree completely with Brian Thomas and Viv Pugh (Letters, October 19) that the history of Bute Town is part of the history of Wales, and should be taught as such – which then makes it clear that Welsh history itself needs to be taught.

Regrettably, in the past the teaching of that history has been patchy, to say the least, and while being too prescriptive has its own dangers, basic guidance is also necessary.

And teaching Welsh history does not mean being parochial. It was a worker’s son from Cwmafan, turned missionary, who founded Peking (now Beijing) University, while Mr Hughes from Merthyr’s foundation of Hughesovka (Donetsk) made its own contribution to today’s problems in Eastern Ukraine.

Equally, it was, I believe, Hungary which adopted the myth of Edward I’s massacre of the bards as their national epic, inspiring their fight for freedom.

If one of the main aims of the new curriculum is to produce healthy, confident young people, then surely learning what their ancestors, whatever their origins, have achieved, both at home and abroad, is a vital contribution to that end.

Perhaps we should take a hint from Singapore, where they make a major effort to show all the contributions to their history and community: Malay, Chinese, Indian and Eurasian.

History is a network, not a set of separate boxes.

Sally Roberts Jones

Port Talbot

Little risk of sliding down slippery slope

Regrettably, in the past the teaching of Welsh history has been patchy, to say the least

MR BOTTO (Letters, October 20, 2021) and I agree on one thing: palliative care should and must be improved.

In my experience the professionals involved in this care are deeply invested in their work and highly unlikely to stand for its downgrading in favour of euthanising the elderly, as Mr Botto envisages.

He is right to highlight the need for tight regulation as part of any Bill. He cites the 1967 Abortion Act as an example of a slippery slope; however, other than citing what presumably seems to him to be an unacceptably high number of annual abortions, does he have any evidence that there is widespread failure to abide by the grounds for permitting abortions laid down in the Act?

Dr Allison Wroe Edinburgh

Sally Roberts Jones Port Talbot