Patrick Nulty
Riversdale Community College
In Irish education today one of the most important debates is the structure
of the Leaving Certificate and the future of the points system as a means
for entry into third level education.
First of all one of the main advantages of the current system is its transparency
and honesty. However, I think as it stands it does not take account of
a number of factors in the education system. The system presumes that
all students start on a level playing field which is not the case. Students
from a high Socio-economic background will be able to afford extra tuition
and also some schools, particularly in urban areas, must deal with a variety
of social problems with which other schools may not have to contend. This
means that some students have a headstart and therefore the highly competitive
nature of the points system is inappropriate.
Secondly, the huge stress in having to compete for points rather than
learning about a particular subject means that students may be forced
to pick a subject which is easy to get points in, rather than one they
are really interested in.
One of the great difficulties about criticising the points system is
the requirement for an obvious alternative system. There is no perfect
system but I do have a few suggestions.
First of all there should be continous assessment of work throughout the
year. This would mean that the final exam at the end of the year might
only make up fifty percent of the total grade. This would remove the pressure
somewhat of an all or nothing exam at the end of the year and it would
also make extra-tuition a less attractive option with work being assessed
all year.
Another suggestion would be to have a standard entry requirement for
all forms of third level education, i.e. all degree courses would have
the same entry requirement. Where demand was greater than the number of
places available an interview or perhaps an essay as to why you want to
do a particular course may be used to select candidates.
To conclude, the points system is unfair because it presumes that all
students have the same opportunities, it creates an unacceptable level
of pressure for parents, teachers and in particular students with all
the emphasis on one exam.
I believe it is time for the Department of Education to develop a system
which gives students a better chance to learn and grow without having
to cope with such pressure.
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