Congratulations to Cork’s students

Home

Sections

Education

Written by Staff Reporter

Thursday, 21 August 2008

Leaving Certificate students last week received their examination results. Congratulations to all who successfully completed their exams. 2008 witnessed after years of falling numbers, a small increase of those who sat the leaving cert. It rose up to 55,000 candidates who sat the Leaving Certificate exam this year.

Maths and science results grabbled the headlines. Not unexpectedly there have been renewed calls for measures to tackle low attainment and student interest in maths and science subjects.

Industry groups and others have focused on continued high failure rates in maths. This year 12% failed the subject at ordinary level. They also point to high failure rates in science subjects saying that the drop in the number of people studying physics is an added cause for concern.

Fine Gaels Brian Hayes points out “However, the results have, once again, highlighted disturbing trends in maths and science areas. Only 17% of students, 8,510, taking Mathematics chose to sit the Higher Level Paper and this low level of uptake is of serious concern. Alongside this, one in eight students taking Ordinary Level Mathematics did not pass, a statistic that is identical to the numbers not passing in 2006 and 2007. This shows that the Government has made zero progress in promoting this vital subject.

“It is also clearly that the physical sciences are being squeezed out of the senior cycle with the numbers taking physics actually decreasing since 2007 and the numbers taking chemistry only increasing marginally. Fourteen per cent of students sitting Ordinary Level Chemistry also did not pass. This is, once again, a repeat of the trend seen in previous years but the Government has singularly failed to tackle it.”

Minister for Education Batt O’Keeffe has confirmed a new maths syllabus will be introduced in September in 24 schools on a trial basis. Minister O’Keeffe said there is now an awareness across all sectors of society that education is the gateway to opportunity, playing a key role in creating better life chances for the population as a whole and ultimately in driving the knowledge society.

Minister O’Keeffe urged students and parents to think carefully about their options and to seek advice where they are uncertain.

‘The range of options available for students leaving school this year is enormous and, between third-level courses and the vast array of PLC and other education and training opportunities, there is something out there for everyone.

Overall, I am happy to see that the results and trends are on a par with previous years.

I would ask students who have performed well in the subjects in the examinations to think carefully about choosing courses in the Science, Engineering and Technology sectors.

Comments (0) »

Show/Hide comment form toggle

< Prev		Next >

[ Back ]

Custom Search

Most Popular - Features

Random Features Articles