TEACHERS and students have responded positively to a proposal to break up the Leaving Certificate exams into two sittings with some papers, practicals or project work taken earlier in the year.

Hundreds of students and school pupils marched through Dublin city centre today against Government plans to introduce ASBOs.

Young people are being called to action to protest over Michael McDowell's proposals for anti-social behaviour orders.

Anti-social Behaviour Orders are a quick-fix solution which will only criminalise young people, it was claimed today.

THE countdown has ended for almost 59,000 students who begin the Leaving Certificate this morning.

A special telephone helpline to help Junior and Leaving Cert students through the stress of exam time opens tonight.

THE cap on places on Post Leaving Certificate (PLC) courses must be removed to give disadvantaged students a chance to continue their education.

About 119,000 students begin the Leaving Certificate and Junior Certificate exams today in 4,600 centres across the country.

STUDENTS do not have a proper system to tackle problems such bullying, drug abuse and underage drinking, the Union of Secondary Students (USI) said yesterday.

STUDENTS have rejected calls for parents to check pictures on their children’s mobile phones but accept all phones should be banned from the classroom.

RESULTS of the civil, social and political education (CSPE) exam are not being released to 126 Junior Certificate students at 13 schools this morning because they submitted similar projects.

THE waiting is over. Almost 120,000 students who've spent the last few months studying everything from Shakespeare to Stalin will today begin their Leaving and Junior Certificate exams.

MORE than 1,000 secondary school students took to the streets yesterday in a series of countrywide school walkouts against war in Iraq.

STUDENTS could have to wait until the summer before knowing whether they face tuition fees for college next year.

TEACHERS will seek extra pay and strict conditions if a Leaving Certificate based on greater continuous assessment is introduced by the Government.

SCHOOLS should not be allowed test students for drugs, a student leader warned yesterday.

HUNDREDS of students are still without all their Junior Certificate grades as an investigation continues into possible copying of projects.

MORE than 250,000 students face definite disruption for a third consecutive year as Education Minister Noel Dempsey refused to meet the secondary teachers' union for pay talks yesterday.

PARENTS and students have called for an immediate resolution to the supervision row which could throw the start of the school year into disarray.

More than 56,000 students are today receiving the results of their school-leaving examinations - amid suggestions that the World Cup could have damaged success rates.