The Leaving Certificate ‘leaves’ too many people behind

AS the drama of the CAO third-level places unfolded this week, I thought about what Burmese pro-democracy advocate, Aung San Suu Kyi, said in Strasbourg last year when accepting a prize for promoting freedom of thought: "I’ve always said there’s no hope without endeavour. Hope has no meaning unless we are prepared to work to realise our hopes and dreams, but in order to do that we need friends."

To achieve our dreams we must not only work hard, but we must be surrounded by people who believe in us and can help us.

In Ireland, an individual’s position in the workforce is strongly influenced by their qualifications, so the Leaving Certificate examination is an enormous hurdle to achieving one’s dreams.