Student challenges exclusion of traditional Mandarin characters in Chinese Leaving Cert marking

It is also claimed that the Minister for Education has unlawfully consulted with the Chinese Ministry for Education and that the Chinese Embassy is drawing up the curriculum for Mandarin Chinese

Guānhuà (Mandarin) written in Chinese characters (simplified left, traditional right).  The court heard the curriculum requires that written answers given in the examination must be in simplified Mandarin characters, but 15-year-old student Ethan Boone, who was born in Taiwan where traditional Mandarin characters are used, has challenged this. File picture: LiliCharlie via Wikipedia

A secondary school student has gone to the High Court over an alleged refusal to accept answers given in traditional Chinese characters in the Leaving Certificate Mandarin Chinese examination.

The court heard the curriculum requires that written answers given in the examination must be in simplified Mandarin characters, which are predominantly used in the People's Republic of China, Singapore and Malaysia.