Transition year criticised over standards

The transition-year programme, which gives teenagers a respite from exams between the Junior and Leaving Cert, may not be universally…

The transition-year programme, which gives teenagers a respite from exams between the Junior and Leaving Cert, may not be universally popular with parents.

But now it is being blamed by one of the State's largest professional organisations for declining academic standards.

The Institution of Engineers of Ireland (IEI) says that the transition year is encouraging students to cast aside their studies and take up part-time jobs. The end result, it says, is richer students but poorer marks at Leaving Cert level.

The IEI, which represents 20,000 members, is seeking a review of the transition year. "Most transition-year students receive little or no homework, and many appear to commence the practice of part-time work in that year, immediately before the two most challenging years in their student lives," says Mr Paddy Purcell, director-general of the IEI.

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The IEI has been prompted to make its call because of the alarming fall-off in students opting for higher-level maths and sciences - the traditional gateway to a career in engineering. This year, only 9,000 Leaving Cert students opted for Physics and only about 7,000 chose Chemistry.

The IEI's call is certain to reopen a debate about the usefulness of the transition-year programme. About 40 per cent of all second-level students - over 25,000 teenager - complete a transition year after their Junior Cert exam.

Most schools have well-developed programmes for the transition year, involving a mix of work experience and project work. But many parents remain uncomfortable with the year, which some claim gives students a licence to discard the books.

Last year, the image of the transition year was boosted by one study which found that students who completed the programme achieved over 40 more college entry points than those who went directly into fifth year.

Mr Purcell says that part-time work during the transition year gives students the financial freedom to socialise heavily, something which can be very difficult to give up. "In addition, many students get out of the habit of serious study and homework during transition year and may find it difficult to revert to normal study on starting their Leaving Cert cycle."

He said it was time to examine whether the objectives of the transition year could not be met by alternative means. "The option of having a 'pre-third level' preparatory year instead of the transition year, and spreading the Leaving Cert exams between two years, should be examined."

The IEI also wants an urgent examination of the part-time work practice of second-level students after a recent survey found that up to 75 per cent were working part-time. Students, he said, were often too tired to give higher-level maths and science subjects the rigorous concentration they demanded.

The IEI's call is in response to the recent government Task Force on the Physical Sciences, which sought to arrest the decline in students taking science subjects.