The following article was sent to us by a 15year-old Mole reader in Northern Iteland.
The first thing a newcomer notices about education in Ulster is that, on the secondary level, Catholics and Protestants are educated separately. This is caused by the two reactionary organisations who like things (the division of the proletariat) as they are the Unionist Party and the Catholic Church, They realise that they would both lost their power if the opposing workers uaited.
The Unionists continue the split in education by allowing the present system of Grammar Schools to exist. In the area whero I live the only Grammar Schools are not state-owned, so fees have to be paid. Admittedly grants are given to all scholars, so eventually the fee may be very small, but if a Catholic has to pay to have his child educated in a Protestant school, he won't bother. It will seem more reasonable to have his child taught in a Catholic school. And here we reach the method by which the Catholic Church maintains its position. By educating the majority of its young, the Catholic Church is always assured of support.
Education in what could be described as the Protestant schools is amazing, In the majority of these schools Irish history is not taught, therefore a large proportion of Protestant children never know any real facts behind the present troubles. They can only talk in vague slogans, "No Surrender", "Remember 1960" eto., eto.
in the particular school 1 attend. Irish history is taught, so 1 suppose that some people would call it liberal. But in fact its regulations on personal liberty are extremely repressive. The school regulation haircut can only be described as short, only regulation coats can be worn, uniform is strictly enforced, and other such rules must be obeyed. If a pupil is seen smoking, he is warned; if be is seen again, he is suspended for a week.
Therefore the whole oducational system in Unster is geared to producing the "norm" even more so than in England.
How ireland works: onk! bash!
Policeman the income of the state is insufficient. The state's income could only be increased by incroased taxation, especially direct texation. and if the state itself took part in the process of production, so as to share in the surplus value produced by human labour, But this attacks the basic principle of our society, private enterprise and private profit. But even supposing these demands could be granted, it would only "fres" working-class women for low-paid, unskilled, rotten jobs; they would still be in a very much inferior postion to women from higher classes. It is of course because they realise this that working class women are little interested in emancipation, and why they at present prefer to be house wives as the least evil. It is social struggle, not struggle against "men", which can free these women into a world where they can associate together to work for their own collective interests, rather than performing alienated labour for the benefit of the ruling class. The struggle for the emancipation of women is thus a part of the general class struggle of producers against parasites. The problem is then how to Introduce this truth to the people it affects and how to organise to achieve the goals. The book points out that this involves discovering wheru a realisation of the need arises or can arise and going to work there-thus equal pay actions must be fought in the factories, creches should be fought for in the districts which need them, so should decent housing, and actions for freer mare equal education should likewise be fought The reactions of the pupils to this is strange: they resent incursions on personal liberty, but do not notice the other infringements, In my school there is no real anti-Catholic feeling, the others think that Catholics are just different. Some people of course cocasionally make biassed statements, but it is all talk, In my form I know of only one Paisleyite, and he is completely influenced by his parents. The fact is in most areas the two sections never meet in any way.
Whete they do meet, always in squalor, there is tromble. Occasionally people 1 know mention fights with Catholics, but their attitude 1s puzzling. Why should they fight? Nobody knows. You can tell by their statements that they den't hate Catholies, they seem to feel that they have been born only to fight. This attitude seems to extend to the Catholics. though I cannot say for sure, because I never meet them socially.
The young do not realise they are the tools of the Establishment, being used to uphold the status guo. Yet when they are young, they are more likely to be swayed from their present position, but nobody tries. Both sides have made violent attacks on the Establishment, but for no worthwhile reason. The place to spread new political thoughts is in the schools-even Queen's University has a large right-wing Unionist group, But the two wings of the Establishment (Unionist Party and Catholic Church) make no concerted effort to win support from the schools. A revolutionary movement can gain ground bere, when people are most rebellious But there is nobody to inspire them, to enlighten them, Even by the time students reach University, too many of them ane set in their ways, the ways of their parents. But at schools, the pupils are more oppressed, mors revolutionarily inclined than other sections of our society, It is time that the revolution spreads to the schools, it is time the schools were liberated.
N.M.
Dolle Mina: A Political Movement The most interesting chapter is a brief one on the question whether Dolle Mina is political. It recapitulates the argument that the emancipation of women as human beings means class struggle, and points out the important part Dolle Mina can play in that struggle. Dolle Mina thus takes part in politics but is not itself a political party. Dolle Mina wishes to make clear to people that the freeing of women and men, and the existing discrimination of women, and the way to the emancipation of women are political matters. People must learn to see that whether they like it or not their daily, concrete existence is determined by political decisions.
The second step will then of course be that women and men will follow the political course of affairs with critical attention and interestsince that determines the circumstances of their lives. The step from this position to the realisation that no existing political party satisfied these conditions, to the realisation that to fight the class struggle to a successful conclusion what is required is a different type of political party, a democratic centralist combat party of the Leninist type, is a small one. If the Dolle Mina leaders are able to make this leap, and if they are able through participating in the day-to-day struggle in the way they have outlined to raise the consciousness of a large mass of working people, mainly women, to the same level, they will indeed be playing a very important part in bringing about the social change which is their declared goal.
fan Fraser