Latin has virtually disappeared from the curriculum. Long gone are the days when pupils had to compose prose and poems in Latin.

If he were alive today, Mr D. H. McMullan, my Latin teacher at Omagh Academy, would be outraged. Black gown askew, nictoine-stained forefinger raised to emphasise a point, D. H. McMullan believed that the study of Latin is an excellent discipline, one that gives pupils a grasp of grammar and the roots of their own language.

Moreover, Western culture is so deeply imbued with its classical origins that a true appreciation of it is not possible without some knowledge of them. There is virtually no sphere of thought, whether in history, philosophy, literature or science that does not owe a great deal to ancient Greece and Rome. Lacking any knowledge of the classics, involvement in those fields is somewhat like doing arithmetic without knowing how to add and subtract.

Of course, society today needs engineers, accountants, computer specialists and entrepreneurs and few would argue that a classic-based education is either feasible or desirable. But the absence of Latin from the curriculum is surely regrettable, for good grammar and a command of language are essential in all walks of life.

The Education Minister should restore Latin to its rightful place in the curriculum.

T S Birrell

Omagh