Ease off on Leaving Cert students

The Leaving Certificate exams will start shortly and there will be a lot of media coverage surrounding them. I actually think that most of this coverage is "hype" and very unhelpful "hype" at that.

While the Leaving Cert is a big event, ultimately it’s just another step along the journey of life. I am now 48 years old and have completed three Leaving Certs in my time.

I did the first when I was 17 years old and, to be honest, it didn’t mean very much to me at the time. I completed the other two as a mature student because I decided to go to college. I might never have succeeded in my return to education had it not been for the experience of completing that first Leaving Cert, when I was 17. Like I said, it was just one step on the way to my eventual success, when I graduated from UCC, at the age of 28. I later completed two post-graduate diplomas, including a teaching qualification, and have been teaching for the past 12 years, as well as doing an interesting variety of other skilled work.