Teachers 'very, very concerned' about plan to move Leaving Cert Irish Paper 1 to fifth year

As part of Leaving Cert reforms, students entering fifth year from September will take Leaving Cert Irish and English Paper 1s at the end of the year. File picture: Mark Stedman/RollingNews.ie

Teachers have grave concerns about plans to move Leaving Cert Irish Paper 1, warning it may hinder students' ability to acquire the language effectively.

As part of Leaving Cert reforms, students entering fifth year from September will take Leaving Cert Irish and English Paper 1s at the end of the year. 

Intended to reduce the ‘assessment burden’ on students, these marks will then be ‘banked’ and added later after students take Paper 2 in June 2025.

However, Irish teachers believe there is no educational basis for the move and warn the decision could have unintended consequences for the teaching and learning of our native language.

This week, An Gréasán do Mhúinteoirí Gaeilge, the subject association for Irish teachers, and Gael Linn are calling on the Department of Education and Education Minister Norma Foley to shelve the plans.

“This is being packaged as an ‘interim measure’ without any measures other than moving the test, or thought for the implications of doing so,” said Gael Linn educational policy officer Séamas Mac Eochaidh.

“We speak to these teachers on a daily basis, and it's clear that teachers want change, they are in favour of change that runs with educational research and that runs with reducing stress for students at a systematic level.” 

“Simply put, at this moment in time there has been no update about in-service training, no update on sample exam papers, nor has there been any review of the syllabus. This decision is to come into place in the next academic year. In terms of logistics, how does that make any sense?” 

“We are calling for Minister Foley and the Department of Education to retract the decision to implement the movement of Paper 1 in September, and discuss genuinely pedagogically sound possibilities that would benefit students, teachers, and the systematic problems that the teaching of our native language faces.” 

Irish teacher and chairperson of An Gréasán Shane Ó Coinn said Irish teachers are “very, very concerned” about the move.

There’s no educational or linguistic basis for this decision, and it goes against international best practice. We strongly believe that this decision will hinder a student’s ability to acquire the language effectively.”

A spokesman for the Department of Education said a critical element of the minister’s plans was to reduce stress for students and to address the feeling that “everything hinges on two to three weeks in June”.

What's your view on this issue?

You can tell us here

Introducing a redeveloped Senior Cycle will take time, he added, “but we have an opportunity to bring about generational change". 

“The minister has to balance the phasing of change with setting out specific changes which will allow as many students as possible and as early as possible to see and feel the benefits of those reforms.” 

The scheduling of Paper 1 is an “interim measure”. 

“If we do not introduce some changes like this now, hundreds of thousands of young people will have completed their Leaving Certificate before the more comprehensive reform is felt.”