Leaving Cert should be renamed, says Dempsey

THE LEAVING Cert should be renamed the Senior Cert to more accurately reflect its role for young people, Education Minister Noel Dempsey said yesterday.

“Leaving Cert is a name that is obsolete,” he said. “We should change it to something like the Senior Cert to get the message across that this is only one signpost, one milestone on a person’s road of lifelong learning.”

Launching the National Parents Council (NPC) exam helpline, Mr Dempsey also said the Leaving Cert should not be seen by students as the “be all and end all”.