Home economics fair but German grammar a challenge

More than 21,500 Junior Certificate home economics students were examined on a range of everyday living issues.

Kate Hehir, Teachers’ Union of Ireland subject spokeswoman, said higher- level students would have been pleased with questions about the nutritional values of a fruit smoothie and savings on home heating costs. She said the exam was fair and within the capabilities of any well-prepared student.

Maura McCaul of the Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland, said healthy eating and obesity was the subject of another nice question, as it had been the subject of publicity and campaigning in recent years.

She also liked the contemporary feel of a question on the family, as it asked students to write about three different family types, reflecting life in modern Ireland.

Ms McCaul thought the ordinary-level paper featured nice consumerism questions, while Ms Hehir said some of the biological terms in a question about female reproduction might have been a little difficult.

For those sitting Leaving Certificate construction studies, ASTI subject spokesman Noel Scott thought there was a good balance between sketching and writing at higher level.

He said the exam had a modern feel, with questions on home redesign, solar gain, and septic tanks. Mr Scott said the ordinary-level paper had a traditional feel and examined areas such as roofing, home insulation, plumbing, and construction safety.

German was the only subject on the timetable yesterday morning.

Scatha Ní Fhearghail, TUI subject spokeswoman, said both Junior Cert papers were manageable, opening with a well-paced listening test and clear questions at higher and ordinary levels.

She said higher-level candidates would have liked a comprehension piece about TV show Glee, but both papers contained one piece with difficult vocabulary — about a homework diary on the higher-level exam and about a boy and his older neighbour at ordinary level.

Ms Ní Fhearghail said the language in reading comprehensions for those sitting the ordinary-level Leaving Cert paper was appropriate for students of that standard. She said there were no real surprises in the written section.

Patrick Kavanagh, ASTI German spokesman, said the higher-level reading passages were pitched at the right level but the applied grammar question was very challenging as it asked students to do something he had not seen in any previous exam.