Repetition the key to solving Leaving Cert conundrum

THE Government’s handling of the Leaving Cert exams has been shambolic.

As Martina Devlin stated in last Saturday’s

Irish Independent (‘Why abandoning the Leaving Cert is the wrong decision at the wrong time’, May 9), “it smacks of inept planning in his department and a minister bowing to pressure”, in reference to Education Minister Joe McHugh.

However, what is really sobering is Ms Devlin’s statement that in Britain, predicted grades “have a 16pc accuracy rate . . . in three-quarters of cases, teachers think their students are going to earn a higher mark”.

I can well believe this. It is nearly 40 years since I did my Leaving Cert. In my Inter Cert, I got 10 honours and was fourth in my year of around 70 students. My Leaving Cert was very disappointing. I took six honours subjects and while I passed them all, only two were honours.

The Department of Education has stated that Junior Cert results will not be taken into account in devising the grades for each student.

This may be so, but most teachers would be aware of a student’s past performance in State exams and this has to influence their thinking.

You do not solve one catastrophe by creating another. The only fair way to solve the Leaving Cert conundrum is to bring every school year back as they left, ie sixth class pupils return to sixth class, this year’s Leaving Cert students return to Leaving Cert year.

With the growing possibility of schools not resuming in September anyway, at least in the traditional way, this idea is not as ludicrous as it might first appear. This would restore the education system to its previously high reputation. Tommy Roddy

Salthill, Co Galway