There were mixed views among Transition Year students in Tubbercurry, Co Sligo on the news that the plan for Leaving Certificate candidates to sit paper one of both the English and Irish exams at the end of fifth year has been reversed.
Cian Foran was disappointed at the decision.
He had been looking forward to the exams being spread out over two years because, he feels, to cram two years of hard work into a Leaving Cert state exam did not make sense to him.
He thought that to put paper one in fifth year was great, because it would relieve the stress for him and he could focus on his key subjects.
Tara Healy was happy with the news.
An extra year's class room time, she feels, would really allow students to improve their overall English skills.
Sixth year without any creative writing in English would be so mundane and boring and a bit depressing, she said.
Tara said skills come into English a lot, writing skills and what techniques you are going to use, and an extra year of classroom time with a teacher would really help everyone to improve their skills and take a lot of stress off them for the exam.
In relation to the Irish exam, Tara felt that would be a disaster, the oral is in sixth year and the oral and the essay go hand in hand, she said.
The Minister for Education has reversed a plan for Leaving Certificate candidates to sit Paper 1 of their English and Irish exams at the end of 5th year. Some students have expressed disappointment at the move, while others have welcomed the change | More: https://t.co/txZPyaUgQV pic.twitter.com/3rzjACswSv
— RTÉ News (@rtenews) February 28, 2023
Kenneth Coleman was another student happy with the news.
He had been feeling very stressed about going into a state exam straight after Transition Year and he said he also felt very sorry for third years who would be going straight from one state exam into another state exam and that just was not fair, he said.
Kenneth said he struggles a bit with Irish but is OK with English and feels the two years are needed for both.
Sophie Monaghan does not agree with the decision.
She would prefer to see the papers spread over the two years.
Sophie feels that having paper 1 in fifth year would relieve a lot of stress.
Both Irish and English are massive exams, she said, and breaking it apart would make it less daunting.
Going into Leaving Cert with 50% of it done would make her feel much more confident.
Sophie feels the same about both Irish and English, that the stress builds up and having it all in one exam would just be too much.
