The Kerryman (South Kerry Edition)
Kerry’s Junior Cert candidates deliver
MEANWHILE, MINISTER JOE MCHUGH’S HISTORIC INTERVENTION PARTICULARLY WELCOME IN THE KINGDOM
FRIDAY was a day of celebration for the 1,949 (957 female/992 male) candidates from Kerry, who achieved outstanding results in the Junior Cert exam. Results in Kerry were superb and well up to the high standard of previous years. The State Examinations Commission (SEC) was three weeks late in releasing the results this year because of the rush to get the Leaving Cert exam results and college offers out as early as possible. There was palpable relief and unconfined joy around the county on Friday morning when word circulated that Kerry’s Junior Cert students had delivered the goods.
Junior Cert results were available in schools from early on Friday morning and they were also accessible online from 4pm on Friday at www.examinations.ie by using the candidate’s exam number and Personal Identification Number (PIN).
Six new grade descriptors - Distinction, Higher Merit, Merit, Achieved, Partially Achieved, Not Graded - are being gradually phased in in the reformed Junior Cycle program, replacing the seven old A, B, C, D, E, F and NG grades. English, Science and Business Studies were marked under the new grading system this year. Next year French, German, Spanish and Italian will follow suit and the remaining subjects up to 2022. 19 students nationwide achieved the highest grade in all 11 subjects, which can be taken at Junior Cert cycle.
Irish, English and Mathematics are compulsory subjects in the reformed Junior Cycle program. Higher level and Ordinary level papers will still be offered in these subjects while all other subjects will have a Common paper only. For the first time this year, students of Business and Science sat the exam at common level.
Irish is going through a major transformation. Next year, 2020, there will be four separate papers in Irish. There is now a syllabus for Irish-medium schools and a different syllabus for English-medium schools. Each syllabus will be examined at higher and ordinary level.
Minister for Education, Joe McHugh made a major intervention last week by rejecting the recommendation by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) to retain History as an optional subject in the Junior Cert. There was widespread relief at the Minister’s decision to restore History as a compulsory subject on the Junior Cert program, thereby giving the subject the same standing as Irish, English and Maths.
There was a particular welcome in County Kerry for Joe McHugh’s decision. Kerry’s students were always given an in-depth appreciation of Ireland’s historic past so that they could become active and proud citizens in a progressive Irish Republic. Many great figures in Irish History such as St. Brendan, Daniel O Connell The Liberator, The O’Rahilly, Roger Casement, Austin Stack and Dick Spring have a strong association with County Kerry. If young people had been denied the right to learn about the past they would have been deprived of their glorious heritage. The Minister’s decision is a good one.
The compulsory status of Geography at Junior Cert level must also be restored. Geography was a core subject in most schools until it was downgraded in the new Junior Cert program. At a time when young people are energised by environmental issues, climate change, global warning, migration, rural isolation and recycling, the NCCA is totally out of touch with youths’ mood. A detailed and comprehensive Geography course is essential in providing students with an awareness of the challenges facing the modern world.
Applications for a review of Junior Cert exam results must be made through the candidate’s school. Subject appeals must be received by the State Examinations Commission (SEC) by 5pm on this Friday, October 11. The fee for this service is €32 per subject which will be refunded if the result is upgraded. The SEC plans to issue the results of the appeals in the week ending November 22. Congratulations to all candidates, who received Junior Cert results last Friday. Billy Ryle,
Career Guidance Counsellor/ Educational Commentator