A REVAMPED Leaving Cert cycle will be implemented from 2024, Minister for Education Norma Foley (FF) confirmed last week, with Clare students believing it will “reduce stress” of final year exams.
By Cian Ó Muíneacháin
The Clare Echo spoke to County Clare-based students and teachers who gave a largely positive reaction to the recent changes made to the structure of the Senior Cycle, which will see students sit Paper 1 in English and Irish at the end of fifth year (starting 2023-24 school year).
Two new subjects, Drama, Film and Theatre Studies and Climate Action and Sustainable Development, will also be introduced in some pilot schools; while many Leaving Certificate subjects will be revised and will have assessment components added to the written exam, with the assessment worth 40 per cent of marks and the written exam worth 60 per cent.
Áine Ó’Neill, a 5th year student at St. John Bosco Community College, Kildysart mostly welcomed the changes but with some reservations. “Personally, I’m not too fond of the changes to the English paper because English is a two-year course and I feel that you need the two years to improve your abilities in order to reach a Leaving Cert standard but I do like the idea of having the Irish course split into two parts as it takes a lot of stress off of students.”
She praised the introduction of the new subjects such as drama “I think we need to see more art subjects in the curriculum to cater to people who maybe are not as academic. I appreciate the fact that Climate Action and sustainable development was introduced as a subject as it is quite a relevant topic recently.”
Josephine Ryan, Guidance Counsellor and teacher at the Kildysart school was in favour of the change but felt that some aspects of the changes had already been in place for years. “Reform is something that is to be welcomed, however the proposals are largely a continuation of a process that has been in place in many subjects for a number of years. A large number of Leaving Cert subjects have a practical and/or project option already built into them, thus students are familiar with this system of continuous assessment”.
Another student noted that the changes “will reduce stress at the end of 6th year and hopefully balance out the workload a bit more evenly between the two years”.
