JUNIOR CERT RELIGIOUS EDUCATION:MORE THAN 25,000 students, some 45 per cent of all Junior Cert candidates, took Religious education yesterday.
According to David Martin of Mount Temple Comprehensive School, on Dublin’s Malahide Road, they were given a “standard”, if lengthy , exam.
“There were no surprises on the paper, but it was very demanding”, he said. In particular, he cited a demanding question which asked students to consider complex moral challenges. But he said the paper was generally fair.
This view was echoed by Úna Killoran, Lough Allen College, Co Leitrim who said it was “an excellent paper, well laid out and pupil-friendly.” She praised the layout of section 1, noting it had a number of confidence-building questions, which she said would help students get going.
Ms Killoran was also pleased with the ordinary level, but was concerned that some of the terms, for example “revelation”, “can be regarded as difficult, but at the same time students do need to know them”.
As with Mr Martin, she felt both were lengthy exams, that demanded a great deal of writing.
Both praised a section which demanded essay-like answers, with Ms Killoran singling out the question on humanism, a topic that many students will have revised.
Mr Martin said students who had practised on past papers should do well. He said the exam was arduous in terms of the level it demanded of students.
