Letter to the Editor: Leaving Cert - It’s just about creating extra options
The Leaving Cert is just another step along the journey of life.
I think that most of the coverage of the Leaving Certificate results is hype and is very unhelpful to students, teachers, and parents.
While the Leaving Cert is a big event, ultimately, it’s just another step along the journey of life. I am now 54 years old and I have completed three Leaving Certs in my time. I did the first when I was 18 and to be honest, it didn’t mean very much to me at the time. I completed the other two as a mature student (in my 20s), because I wanted 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. Later on, still in my 20s, I completed a university degree. I have been teaching for the past 20 years, as well as doing an interesting variety of other skilled work, along the way.
What all this has thought me is that education is (or should be) about creating options and there are always options. Life is a series of choices and challenges, that's just plain reality. Students, teachers, parents and the media need to acknowledge that. Life also involves a lot of ‘trial and error' and it's important to remember that the only real "failure" (in life) is the failure to try, to take a risk, to "have a go" at a career or to follow a calling which you think is worthwhile, whatever that happens to be.
Research by the Higher Education Authority shows that parents, especially mothers, have the most influence on their children’s choice of third-level course. Other research, by the HEA and other bodies shows that a high proportion of graduates don’t pursue a career related to their formal qualifications. These findings should be deeply reflected upon, especially at this time.
Every experience in life has the potential to educate us and you can never have too much education, whatever its source. That includes the exams process, in its current form.
