Irish Times – Why are we still inflicting the cruel, outdated Leaving Cert on students?
Irish Times – Opinion Section – Paul Crone, Director NAPD
Why are we still inflicting the cruel, outdated Leaving Cert on students?
Grind school culture is a means of gaming the system available only to the wealthy
On Friday, over 60,000 students will receive their Leaving Certificate results. The exam itself and results time are periods of intense stress and anxiety for students and their families, and the memory of that never quite leaves your nervous system.
As we face into these final few days before the results are published, now appears as good a time as any to stop, reflect and ask the question; why are we still doing this? Why does Irish society still subject our teenagers to this cruel, all or nothing, high stakes, and ultimately out-of-date terminal set of exams; a set of exams that we recognise as no longer fit for purpose?