1 You are not alone– no one is enthusiastic about the Leaving Cert!
All of the great and the good in education have had a bash at the Leaving Cert. Minister for Education Ruairí Quinn says the 1930s-style exam is old fashioned. University presidents say it fosters rote learning and a “spoon-feeding” culture, leaving students ill-prepared for college. Employers complain that it’s out of kilter with modern needs.
Arrangements are under way to kill off the exam and replace it with something more modern where, we are told, there will be a greater stress on “independent self-directed learning”.
But don’t hold your breath.
Leaving Cert reform must wait in line until Junior Cert changes are bedded in in 2017. With a long lead-in time needed for exam reform, some experts reckon it could be 2022 before a “new” Leaving is in place.
2 Parents can spend a great deal of time in the pharmacy at this time of year.
You can blame that girl with the perfect Leaving Cert. Earlier this year, she told Ryan Tubridy on the Late Late Show her success was partly down to Berocca energy tablets.
Since then, pharmacies report how the parents of Ireland have been stocking up on Berocca, Pharmaton and the other supposed energy boosters. Sales are also buoyant for fish oils at this time of year. What would Peig Sayers say?
3 The exams are a nice little earner for some teachers.
It’s hard to believe it now . . . but five years ago the State exams body often struggled to recruit examiners. These days, teachers are queuing up for the work.
On average, a teacher taking on exam work can expect to earn an extra €5,000. Language teachers can earn an extra €1,000-plus from work on the oral exams in April. In all, the State exams body paid €36 million last year to teachers and other staff including examiners and superintendents. It paid a further €19 million to 6,638 examiners in 2011.
4 The Leaving Cert is a source of artistic inspiration.
Jim-Jim Nugent (not his real name) scored a big YouTube hit with I Got Me Leavin. The song – which is to the tune of I Got a Feeling by the Black Eyed Peas – has gained over 100,000 views. And it’s actually not that bad!
The exam also features in the 1998 movie How to Cheat in the Leaving Cert. The movie was much lauded by critics but labelled “irresponsible” by Willie O’Dea, who was junior education minister at the time.
5 Over the next few days someone will ask you: “Have you got anyone doing the exams this year?”
Like it or not, the State exams are part of Irish national life – and part of the national conversation.
At some stage in the next few days you will be asked if you have anyone – son or daughter, brother or sister – taking the exams.
If you say you have someone doing the Leaving Cert sympathy will be extended – and best wishes offered. If you say you have both a Leaving and a Junior Cert in the house, there will a sharp intake of breath and a novena of grace will be offered for your intentions.
The Leaving Cert? It’s part of what we are!
