Junior Cert Irish papers considered ‘fair’ on both levels

The first of two higher level Irish papers offered some 31,200 Junior Cert students, what Robbie Cronin considered quite a good choice of essays.

While Mr Cronin — the Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland (ASTI) subject spokesperson — thought most students should be happy enough, he said those who prefer to write about an incident may have been unhappy.

One of the titles in this area was more confined than normal, requiring an account of something that happened while out walking in the mountains.

David Duffy of the Teachers’ Union of Ireland (TUI) said the grammar section was more student-friendly than in some other years, but a well-intended format change may have surprised some.

Mr Cronin thought the language in the comprehension section was very challenging, particularly the first piece about an Irish-language comedy club. He thought the word ‘íobairt’ for sacrifice was very difficult in the aural test.

Mr Duffy said the second paper for higher level students featured a good comprehension with fair questions. As in previous years, one of the unseen poems was tougher but both were fair, while a broad choice of letters made sure all students could answer that question.

Mr Cronin considered the afternoon exam to be fair with reasonable questions on a challenging prose piece about a group of teen ‘cave vampires’. There were no surprises in the studied prose section, and he too was pleased with the choice of letters that included the topical subject of 1916.

For the 21,000 Junior Certificate students choosing ordinary level Irish, Mr Duffy thought the single paper which they took yesterday morning was “fair”.

The two-hour paper also included the listening test, and he considered it suitable for all levels of Irish students.

Because students taking different levels of language subjects sit papers in the same exam halls, they all answer questions on the same audio.

The written paper at ordinary level featured comprehensions about President Michael D Higgins and the history of Kilmainham Gaol in Dublin.

Mr Cronin also thought the ordinary level exam was fair, the only difficulty he mentioned being around a question about why Kilmainham is now famous. The answer, based on the article in the exam paper was because it gets a lot of visitors, but he said that was not the real reason.