Ceart go leor: Papers get good reaction

LEAVING CERT students sat their second Irish exams yesterday, and the papers were perceived positively by teacher representatives.

Robbie Cronin of the Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland (ASTI) said the higher level exam was a good paper, with fair but challenging questions about Lig Sinn i gCathú and An Bhean Óg, and very nice questions on An Triail. He thought the choice of Gealt as the compulsory common poem was a good one and should have created few problems.

However, he had concerns about the section on the history of the language which was examined for final time this year. He said it was unfair to have Irish as a Celtic language or An Aisling Pholaitiúil as parts of questions, as they would previously have been the subject of full questions.

Mr Cronin thought the ordinary level Paper 2 was a very good exam, with no problems on the prose questions about Fiche Bliain ag Fás and the film Clare sa Spéir. He also welcomed precise questioning in the poetry section, with just one question asking why a secretary was so worried raising a concern.

Teachers’ Union of Ireland spokesperson Bláithín Ní Liatháin said the prose questions were very clear, and particularly liked those on Clare sa Spéir. She said there were no surprises in the poems, with a nice question about Bímse Buan ar Buairt Gach Ló in quite a straightforward paper.

TUI’s Junior Certificate business studies spokesperson Ivan O’Callaghan said the single paper taken by ordinary level students was fair, with clear, short questions in the opening section. He said the discerning students who read through the paper at the beginning might have chosen more than one of the more discursive questions, such as those on sales and marketing or letter-writing, over starting out with the more accountancy-styled questions. ASTI’s subject spokesperson, Pat Morris, was also pleased with the ordinary level exam, saying candidates had plenty choice of questions from most parts of the course and should have had no difficulties with the majority of the exam.

He said higher level Paper 1 in the morning, which is worth 60% of the total marks, had a nice first section of 20 short questions and the second section featured questions along similar lines to other years. He was particularly pleased with questions on insurance, dispute resolution and calculating take-home pay.

Mr O’Callaghan thought the first higher level paper was manageable without being easy, and the second section was more helpful in previous years as students were not overloaded with the level of detail required.

He said the afternoon’s Paper 2 was moderately challenging but he was glad that it improved on last year, when errors in two questions caused major difficulties.

He said that the level of content required of students has been reduced on Paper 2, citing an example of a question where ledger accounts might have previously been asked for. He also welcomed the provision on the exam paper of a formula needed by students to calculate the rate of dividend, instead of requiring them to try and remember it in an exam situation.