LEAVING CERT ECONOMICS: HIGHER AND ORDINARY LEVELS:THE BLACK economy, the household charge and taxes on sugary drinks were all up for discussion on yesterday's higher-level Leaving Cert economics exam.
Students were also asked to lay out the pros and cons of a return of third-level fees.
“I think the higher-level paper was fair and provided excellent choice for students,” said John O’Sullivan, subject representative for the Teachers’ Union of Ireland. “It tested widely from the syllabus and linked real, current economic events with theory studied.”
Bairbre Kennedy of Malahide Community School welcomed the many links to current economics on yesterday’s paper.
“This was an interesting paper overall,” said Ms Kennedy, who is subject representative for the Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland. “The question on the advantages of the household charge was topical.”
Students were also asked for live data information that would not have been in their textbooks, such as the current rate of unemployment in Ireland.
“This paper required a knowledge of the economy at the moment,” said Ms Kennedy.
An expected question on supply and demand did not feature, but students were pleased to see the topic of perfect competition come up. There was also the surprise inclusion of a second theorist – students were asked about the work of both Keynes and Malthus.
This represented a change from previous years.
About 4,700 students took the economics paper yesterday at higher and ordinary level. Twice as many boys take the subject as girls.
The ordinary-level paper was also well received.
“This was a fair and reasonable paper, in my opinion,” said Mr O’Sullivan.
“The inclusion of questions on issues like the cycle-to-work scheme, changes in VAT rates and the impact on cross-Border shopping and the household charge show again the relevance of the subject to today’s world.”
