Students tackle 'demanding' Junior Cert Irish papers

Junior Cert students Kelly Donovan and Ava Falvey at Coláiste an Chroí Naofa, Carraig na bhFear, Co Cork. Picture: David Keane

The higher-level Irish Junior Cert paper has been described as "demanding for the most part".

Meanwhile, the paper for Gaeltacht and Irish-speaking schools was viewed as "challenging but fair", while ordinary-level papers were "practical and student-friendly".

Teanga 1 (T1) exams are designed for schools in Gaeltacht areas and Irish-medium schools, while Teanga 2 (T2) is designed for pupils attending English-medium schools.

Commenting on the T1 Gaeilge higher-level Junior Cert paper for Irish-speaking schools, Studyclix subject expert Linda Dolan, an Irish teacher at Mercy College, Sligo, said: “Students with an interest in history would have welcomed the léamhthuiscint/ reading comprehension which was based on the megalithic burial site "Brú na Bóinne" in Newgrange. 

However, the questions asked were quite difficult — for example part d) demanded students to give an example of the "sofaisticiúlacht" (sophistication) of the tomb."

She described literature questions as straightforward, focusing on topics such as favourite characters or descriptions of events, while the language in the short-film question could have posed some difficulties as students were asked to rate the acting out of 10.

For the higher-level Irish paper for English-speaking schools, she said: “Today's long-awaited T2 Gaeilge higher-level junior cycle paper was undoubtedly challenging, offering unusual styles of questions."

Junior Cert students Kai Kane, Conor McCarthy, Matthew Keder and Charlie Facer in study class at Coláiste Éamann Rís, Cork. Picture: Dan Linehan

The literature section is a broad area that consumes a large part of students' time during study, but the diary entry in the novel question "may have panicked some students", Ms Dolan said.

"Also, the language in email in the poetry section was very difficult and out of the blue," she added.

Ms Dolan was a lot more positive about the ordinary-level paper, describing it as "very practical and student friendly."

“A ríomhphost/ email and teachtaireacht/ message appeared in the written section as would have been expected. The topical issue of climate change emerged in the léamhthuiscint/ reading comprehension which, at first glance, may have been off-putting for students but the questions were very straightforward.

Overall, this was a very up-to-date and manageable paper with no surprises.” 

Claire Markey, Irish teacher and Teachers Union of Ireland representative, said the T1 higher- and ordinary-level and T2 ordinary-level papers were fair.

'Surprises and issues'

But “some surprises and issues” were found in the T2 higher-level paper which could possibly trip some students up.

“There were some surprises and issues with the style and the terminology used in some of the questions.

“When you look at the sample paper we had, the questions have diverted somewhat from that.

“I would have concerns that some of my own students would have been thrown by the style and the words which were different from the one sample paper the SEC [State Examinations Commission] had given us."

This is the first year that Irish has been examined in the revised junior cycle.

“It was a totally new specification so we had to rely totally on that one sample paper," Ms Markey said.

“But I would hope that if the students read through the questions and took their time that they would have been able to adapt themselves to the questions.

“I’m also going to hope that the SEC will take into account this being the first year of the new specification and take into account the impact that Covid has had on these students over the past three years.

“This really shows the SEC that there’s a need for more than one sample paper going forward.”