Students needed to know a lot more than their textbooks

SOME very topical issues, including Central Bank restrictions on mortgage lending, made for a very up-to-the-minute Leaving Certificate Economics Higher Level paper, although the syllabus itself hasn’t changed in about 40 years. It is currently being reviewed. Shane Ó Ciardubháin, Gaelcholáiste Cheatharlach Carlow, and the Teachers’ Union of Ireland ( TUI), commended examiners for the relevance of many of questions, which, he said helped teachers to promote economics as a subject and encourage students to view the world around them through the lens of economics.

He said, for instance, that question on rent controls on private accommodation and Irish water, required more than rote learning and allowed students to demonstrate their skills of economic analysis.

Pat Collins, CBS, Dungarvan, Co Waterford and the Association of Secondary Teachers’ Ireland (ASTI) agreed that students who kept abreast of current affairs would have been well rewarded in the exam.

The two teachers agreed that while students often focus on micro- economics questions in Section B, this year the macro- economic questions were accessible.

Ray O’Loughlin of Dublin’s Institute of Education, said while it was as “a fairly wellbalanced paper that gave good scope to hard-working students to showcase their knowledge and ability”, he thought many students would have had difficulty with the amount of non-textbook knowledge required.

Mr Collins said the ordinary level paper had a good choice of questions, while Mr Ó Ciardubháin described it as clear and balanced, with explanatory notes provided where required.