Extend exam schedule to help students, says TUI

THE timetable for the Leaving Certificate and Junior Certificate exams should be extended to ease pressure on students, the Teachers Union of Ireland (TUI) said last night.

As most of this year's 119,000 candidates begin the State exams this morning, TUI president Derek Dunne said the high concentration of subjects in a short period should be re-examined.

Leaving Cert students studying home economics, geography, French and history along with the core subjects of English, maths and Irish will be finished their exams by Tuesday. Mr Dunne said the crammed nature of the timetable means students might not get the marks they deserve because of fatigue.

"There are considerable problems with burnout every year, particularly towards the end of the exams. English, Irish and maths should be timetabled in a way that allows the student more recovery time from each," he said.

However, the State Examinations Commission (SEC) said the core subjects have to be set early in the timetable to allow enough time for papers to be marked.

"Any change to scheduling would impact on our ability to issue results by the expected date. It's necessary to hold the more popular subjects at the start to allow sufficient time to collect and process exam scripts," an SEC spokesperson said.

The exams start slightly later than in previous years, but Leaving Cert results are due in schools by August 18 and Junior Cert students will find out how they fared in mid-September.

The Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland (ASTI) said, while exams can be a source of stress, it is important that students try to keep things in perspective.

"Instead of wasting time fretting, think positively and tell yourself that you're going to do the best you can. Ensure you get plenty of sleep, eat well, and take breaks between exam and study periods. This will ease nervousness," said ASTI president Pat Cahill.

For anxious parents, the advice is to give children sitting exams the space they need over the coming weeks.

"Try not to react to banging doors or mood swings, it's only for a few days in their lives. Children sometimes feel pressure to do well in the exams for their parents, but leave them get on with things and just encourage them to do their best," said National Parents Council (post primary) president Eleanor Petrie.