Call to drop Leaving Cert Irish as students take on extra subjects

IRISH should not be compulsory at Leaving Certificate level because thousands of students who do badly in it take an extra subject to make up points for college, a parents group said last night.

The timetable in most schools only allows students study seven subjects but many take extra classes after school or private grinds.

Figures from the State Examinations Commission show almost one-third of this year’s school leavers sat eight or more papers. Just over 13,500 got results in eight subjects this week, 472 did nine and 10 students completed 10.

The National Congress of Catholic Secondary Schools Parent Association (CSPA) said fear of failure is a major factor in persuading many students to burden themselves with extra studies.

“The reason many students take extra subjects is they’re afraid of not doing well in certain exams, and Irish is one of those subjects for an awful lot of young people,” said CSPA spokesperson Barbara Johnston.

Two-thirds of this year’s 43,500 Leaving Certificate candidates who did Irish sat the ordinary level paper. Of those 28,718, more than 2,500 either failed or got a D. Such a grade only gave them a maximum of 15 points, compared to 60 points or more for an honours grade in a higher level subject.

“Irish should not be compulsory at senior cycle anyway, most students do not need it in their everyday life so their future should not depend on the mark they get in the exam,” Ms Johnston said.

Although there are also high failure rates in maths at ordinary level, Ms Johnston said the subject has much more practical use for students in later life and should not be dropped as a compulsory exam.

Teachers Union of Ireland (TUI) president Paddy Healy said, while many students are more than capable of doing more subjects than required, there is an element of pressure on others.

“Many young people need to get a lot of points for the college course they want or their parents are pushing them to do well,” he said.

After receiving their results on Wednesday, most of the 58,000 Leaving Certificate students are awaiting the issue of college offers from the Central Applications Office (CAO). The CAO will post out offers to applicants on Monday, but students can also check the CAO’s website from 6am on Monday.

The National Parents Council (post-primary) free helpline - 1800 265 165 - remains open until 10pm today and will also be operating next week to assist students and parents with queries on college and career options.