Letters to the Editor: Time for Leaving Cert reform
Thousands of students will begin their Junior and Leaving Certificate written examinations from Wednesday. Picture: Domnick Walsh/Eye Focus Ltd.
The nightmare of the Leaving Certificate seems set to continue for the class of 2024, as students of mathematics, Gaeilge, biology, French (including aural), and history will have to spend 17 hours and five minutes doing written assessments over three consecutive days with two examinations in different disciplines each day. It would be difficult to find a more educationally regressive system than this.
Little wonder that students complain about the volume of information they have to retain for this high-stakes assessment.
Firstly, the programme should be modularised and assessed over a two-year period, possibly at Christmas and summer of each year when students undertake in-house assessments in their schools, including a mock assessment.
Secondly, the subject specialists and the experts in the field are the people best placed to decide when, what, and how to assess the students in the various disciplines along the continuum of assessment and what weighting should be allocated to each assessment. This weighting could, and probably should, vary from subject to subject.
I am not suggesting four mini versions of the current system with the associated stress. Four assessments points, including continuous assessment and sit-down examinations, over a two-year period would allow for the use of different assessment methods, as well as examining a greater cross section of each subject area.
One, two, or three assessment points may be more appropriate for some subjects. Sit-down assessments have a role to play, but other methods should be used also on the clear understanding the student is the sole author of the work — especially in light of ever-increasing use of AI.
Where has assessment for learning gone in the traditional Leaving Cert? Students should be given the results and feedback after each assessment, as constructive feedback is a key element of learning.
What feedback other than a grade did most of us receive after doing the Leaving Cert? An essential element of this proposed system is students should compete on an as equal as possible a basis and assessments are marked externally and independently.
Seán de Brún, Associate Professor, Head of the Department of Language and Literacy Education, Mary Immaculate College, Limerick
When it comes to elections, there are always cries for “change”. But one has to ask: What kind of change? How, or who, is going to drive this change?
The Celtic Tiger years change were driven for the most part by financial reckless lending by banks and the greed of overzealous developers.
It had plenty of cheerleaders at the tent at Galway Races, but it left in its wake a financial disaster for which the Irish people are still paying the price.
The bailing out of banks, and developers through Nama may have pulled the economy back from life support but it now leaves the country in a state where you have and inflated prices in the housing and rental market.
Instead of bailing out the developers through Nama, the Government could have bought up the 245,000 (2011 Census) empty residential housing units for a song, but they chose not to and used the Housing Assistance Payment Scheme as a bail out.
If they had added the empty housing units to their stock of social housing, there would be little or no shortage of social housing today and the market price of houses would have reverted to pre-Celtic tiger levels.
The bailing out of banks and developers is equivalent to bailing out a gambler, and a gambler never changes his ways.
The bailed-out are back sitting around the table with Government discussing how to solve the housing problem, the poacher has become gamekeeper for the second time!
Maurice Fitzgerald (Letters, May 29) claimed that “Israel will have every right to interfere in our relations with other countries now that we have interfered with theirs”.
On November 2, 1917, the British government issued the Balfour Declaration which stated that: “His Majesty’s Government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people...”
However, Palestine did not belong to the British government, and it was not up to them to decide on its future.
On November 29, 1947, the United Nations passed Resolution 181 which carved up Palestine. As this was a General Assembly Resolution, it was not legally binding.
It was, therefore, a recommendation. However, correspondingly, the land of Palestine was not the property of the UN to give away.
Finally, the US has supported Israel financially, politically, diplomatically, and militarily since 1948 after British influence in the area receded, and the consequences of this American involvement for the Palestinian people has been repeatedly catastrophic.
This small outline shows that many people and governments have interfered in the affairs of the region, and continue to do so.
Mr Fitzgerald makes no mention of this, only the Irish, mainly symbolic, recognition of Palestine receives his critique, which is slightly puzzling considering that 142 of the 193 member countries of the UN already recognise a state of Palestine. This leads one to assume that for Mr Fitzgerald it is acceptable to ‘interfere’ as long as one interferes on Israel’s side.
The claim that heat pumps are more efficient than other heating options needs a reality check. I live in a five-year-old estate which has had four heat pumps replaced, to my knowledge.
Domestic heat pump systems which are not compliant with the national building regulations or the manufacturers’ safety instructions are being rolled out without abatement.
One such system, of which there are many thousands in operation according to its manufacturer, is unable to control the domestic hot water temperature while the space heating is on.
Isolators are being fitted to safety devices, contrary to the manufacturer’s warnings, on the opinion of the builder’s consultant who claims “the current valve set up is common practice across the Irish market”.
All of this bad and illegal practice results in inefficient system operation and early failure of expensive components at enormous inconvenience, cost and health and safety risks to the consumer.
Consumers are then being ripped off with exorbitant and exaggerated call out charges when phone support may resolve what might only be a system reset.
Immigrants are, put simply, people who come from somewhere else. When people arrive on these shores fleeing war and persecution, then, we call them refugees.
Here in “homogenous” little old Ireland, this has been happening since time began. The Vikings and the Normans, let us call them “new Irish” if we are big into patronising people.
The most quintessential and successful Irish man in history, Roy Keane, worked all his days abroad. And barely speaks English, like.
When I was 14-years-old, Phil Lynott and Paul McGrath were the most Irish people in the country.
When I was in my 20s, Michael Flatley tip-tapped a new definition of Irishness into existence: and
Ed Burns (he married Christy Turlington) once said: “In Irish America where I grew up, we thought all that Irish dancing s**t was goofy”. Each to his own.
Ireland is a broad church and our diaspora worldwide are 10 times more populous than our great little country.
This is the thing, from Phil Lynott to Paul McGrath to Michael Flatley and Rhasidat Adeleke. Let’s feel the need for speed. Irishness is a confident and inclusive kind of thing. Like.
I’m trying to trace a woman whose name is Mary O’Brien (no relation of mine).
I last saw her in 1983. Her address was Ardmahon Estate, Douglas Rd, Cork. I cannot remember the number of the house.
I am sure she is married by now, so I don’t have her married name. I first met Mary at the Metropole Hotel in Cork where she worked.
So, I would appreciate it if it would be possible to put a letter in your paper to see if anybody can help me trace Mary.
