A life lesson from Bashir Maan
YOUR obituary on the wonderful life of Bashir Maan (December 28), brings back to mind one of the finest and simplest ecumenical statements that I ever heard from one man and it came from him.
The occasion was some 40 years ago when I, as an elder, was involved with running the youth discussion group at Westerton Parish Church in Bearsden.
We had an ongoing programme of studying and learning about other faiths and sharing time with them by visiting their places of worship. This included inviting guest speakers from Greek Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Sikh, Hindu, Jewish and many other cultures including Islam, which was why he was one of our special guests and oh, what an impression he made. He started off by saying: “You must be wondering what a Muslim is? Well first he has to be Jewish and then Christian and then he can be Muslim.”
This confounded our group initially, until he went into the history of Islam and showed how it had evolved from Christianity, just as Christianity had itself evolved from Judaism.
That was a lesson these young folks and I learned and remembered for life, as we realised that all of life’s civilised cultures had more in common than at difference and that love and understanding were central to all. Ian Cooper, Bearsden.
IAN Gray (Letters, December 31) notes that members of the Scottish Enlightenment referred to themselves as “North Britons”. This appellation would appear to have been widely used within Scotland by sundry commercial and business interests in the Victorian era. I have sepia-tinted studio photographs of family ancestors whereby it states taken
DR Gerald Edwards (Letters, December 30) continues his tirades against the Scottish Government by yet again trashing the record of our public services. I feel that his criticisms are quite unfair. Of course, in large organisations there will be faults and failings, but these need to be set against the levels of service that are being provided by our dedicated staff. It is of course shocking that three Scottish teachers have had to be compensated recently for attacks perpetrated by pupils (“Compensation bill totals £105,000 after three teachers are attacked by pupils”, The Herald, December 30) but these regrettable incidents have to be balanced against the thousands of positive interactions that take place every day in our school classrooms.
Dr Edwards described Scottish education as “being in meltdown”. Where is his evidence for this apart from the recent Pisa figures, which are very limited in what they have to say about performance in our Scottish schools?
Has he examined figures for school attendance or school exclusions? What about leaver destinations, national exam results or the successful by whomsoever in Arbroath, NB. We have, for example, the North British Railway company, hotels similarly named as well as several industrial establishments. Into BR days we had a daily Glasgow Queen Street-leeds service named The North Briton.
In addition to the above an eminent writer of the times referred to, Arthur Conan Doyle, in his novel The Lost World has one of the main characters noted as being born in Largs, NB, 1863. John Macnab, Falkirk. integration of pupils with additional needs? Are these really “in meltdown”?
Does he take any cognisance of the richness of school extracurricular programmes or the opportunities for community service and work experience? What about the opinions of employer organisations? In my day there were regular complaints from these bodies of pupils not being able to spell or to do simple calculations. Do we still read of these? How many Scottish schools are in special measures?
HAVING seen various references in The Herald recently to black bun (including from Maureen Sugden, Issue of the Day, December 31), I thought to get a treat for New Year. However, on asking a not-so-young assistant in a well-known Byres Road supermarket if they stocked it, I was met by a blank stare and asked how to spell it. Searching the internet uncovers only one place in Scotland where I could
How many Scottish headteachers have been dismissed or disciplined for underperformance or gross misconduct? How many Scottish teachers have been struck off by the General
Teaching Council? Has he considered the very positive opinions of pupils and parents consistently recorded in the published school HMIE reports?
This is the sort of hard evidence that requires to be interrogated before dismissing the efforts of our teachers and pupils in such a cavalier fashion. Of course, there buy it. When did it go out of flavour and favour?
John Love, Glasgow G5.
EVERY year I think the BBC’S Hogmanay programmes can’t get any worse but yet again they proved me wrong. Absolutely atrocious. Michael Watson, Glasgow G73.
GREAT amusement at Dr David are difficulties and challenges, but let us remember that schools are working against a background of relentless austerity.
It is a cruel fact of life for our schools that thousands of Scottish families are struggling with the financial pressures of Universal Credit and low wages. It is truly shocking that so many of our children are coming to school poorly clad and hungry and this at a time when the wealthiest members of our society flaunt their riches and manage to avoid paying their taxes.
Our teachers and pupils deserve much credit for what they are achieving. Scottish education definitely is not “in meltdown”. Eric Melvin, Edinburgh EH10.
I AGREE with Alexander Mckay (Letters, January 1) that the Scottish Government should bang some heads together on the state of our hospitals, education and, I would add, transport. The focus of the Scottish Government should be on running Scotland as efficiently as possible. I would contend that the Scottish Government should try to operate as if Scotland was an independent country with control over all the aspects of its affairs.
Sandy Gemmill, Edinburgh EH3.
Sutherland’s comments on the bagpipes (Letters, December 31). I agree with him all the way. It reminds me of what Brendan Behan once said: “Thank God they don’t smell the way they sound.” Hugh Steele, Cumbernauld.
IN defence of a magnificent instrument, I suggest that one definition of a gentleman is someone who can play the bagpipes, but refrains from doing so indoors.
R Russell Smith, Kilbirnie.