Question on oil adds topical relevance to chemistry paper

IRELAND’S heavy oil dependence in the context of recent unrest in the Middle East was the subject of a question for Leaving Certificate chemistry students yesterday afternoon.

While the questions that followed the short article on the topic for higher level students were mostly on issues directly from the syllabus, Association of Secondary TeachersIreland (ASTI) chemistry spokesperson Pauline Nagle said it was another welcome effort to give the subject topical relevance.

She thought stronger students should have done particularly well on the higher level exam but felt that more average candidates might have struggled to get high grades.