Emer’s A1 and she’s got eight of the best to prove it
Minister for Education Noel Dempsey acknowledged yesterday the education system would have to be reformed to help working class students achieve their potential. He accepted the system was more helpful to middle class students. He pledged to reform the system, but declined to outline any specific measures he was planning.
While 18-year-old Emer from Ballynew in Ballinrobe on the Mayo/Galway border was planning a career in theoretical physics yesterday, thousands of other students were coming to terms with failure.
National Youth Council of Ireland president James Doorley stressed that education authorities should think of those who didn't even reach the Leaving Cert.
"At present our rate of early school leaving is at 19%. This is a serious cause for concern," he said.
He highlighted that early school leavers were from predominantly disadvantaged backgrounds and came from families with a history of early school leaving.
John Fahey, principal of Holy Rosary College in Mountbellew, Co Galway, said while the small percentage of students who get all the A1s deserve credit, people shouldn't forget the hard work put in by middle grade students.
"I had a fella here who punched the air with his fists when he got 270 points and the joy on his face was far greater than anybody who got twice that," he said.
Parents and guidance counsellors called for the schools system to be reformed after yesterday's results showed dramatic increases in failure rates at history, classical studies, Italian, engineering, general home economics, and ordinary level chemistry and economic history.
One-in-seven ordinary level maths students failed the exam, although the failure rate was slightly better than last year's figure of over 16%. There was better news in higher level Irish and English, where the rate of A grades was up on last year.
National Parents Council president Michael O'Regan said there should be greater availability of the Leaving Cert Applied programme completed by only 3,074 students this year. The LCA is aimed at students who choose not to opt for, or are not catered for by, the general Leaving Cert programme, and allows them follow on to many post-Leaving Cert courses.
"It gives weaker students a chance but it's only used in some schools and it's not freely available. Students who have done the LCA might otherwise have dropped out of school altogether and every young person we can keep in the system is a bonus," he said.
Institute of Guidance Counsellors president Brian Mooney agreed: "Teachers are stuck in a situation where they have young people, many from disadvantaged areas, in a pass subject class and it's the last place they want to be. Society needs very practical people to do certain jobs, but we don't have a particular kind of school where those kinds of skills are affirmed and valued."
While the long wait for results ended yesterday for the country's 58,489 Leaving Cert candidates, many will be on tenterhooks until first college places are offered next Tuesday by the CAO.
These offers must be accepted by August 28 and the second round of college offers will be received by remaining hopefuls on September 4.
Students who are unhappy with grades have until September 4 to apply for a re-check. They may view their scripts on August 30 or 31, as long as they have applied to do so through their school by next Wednesday.
