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Junior Cert - Results and Repercussions
Posted by School Run Mum on 13/09/2011. Tags: School Run Mum Parenting Education And Politic
With Junior Cert results out this Wednesday, there will inevitably be a lot of anxious students and parents in households around the country. Waiting for exam results is always a challenging, difficult time, whatever stage the exams are at and emotions can run very high. With the media poised to cover the outcome of the results in schools across the country, the week will no doubt be accompanied by a number of news stories of individual success and failure, and not only in relation to the exam results themselves.
With Junior Cert results day comes Junior Cert results night and the inevitable anxieties for parents about the manner in which their children will mark the occasion – whether to celebrate or commiserate. Every year, the newspaper headlines the following day seem to focus on unsavoury stories of inappropriate celebrations and fervent discussion about teenage drinking and peer pressure. It is a genuine concern for parents, but there are many ways you can help your teenager to enjoy the night, without them appearing on the front page the next day.
The Junior Cert has been a hot topic over the year , with many news items dedicated to Education Minister Ruairi Quinn’s planned reforms of the exam which will see a format of continual assessment introduced by 2015. In the Irish Independent, it was reported that teachers feel now, in a climate of education cuts, is not the right time for these radical reforms, which would see written exams accounting for up to half of the Junior Cert marks. The issue of continuous assessment is emerging as the main sticking point.
The Irish Times last year reported Mr Quinn as stating that, in its current format, significant numbers of Junior Cert students are not developing the skills they need to learn, to live and to work. “The current Junior Certificate will not meet the needs of future cohorts of students. It is out of line with international practice and no longer suitable.”
The debate for reform will no doubt continue for a long time yet. As far as this week goes, let’s wish all Junior Cert students a successful results day and an enjoyable, dare I say sensible, night of celebration.
West of Ireland Mum
(13-09-2011 12:26)
Over a year ago we moved from the east of the country to the west. My daughter attends a school in Galway and I must say I am very impressed with the way they handle the Junior Cert results night. In conjunction with many organisations such as Foroige, the Garda Siochana, Youth work Ireland, HSE, Galway city partnership, Galway city VEC, Galway city Council and Galway city Post Primary schools are organising a FREE disco for everyone in Leisureland Galway for over 900 students to provide a drugs and alcohol free venue for students to celebrate. Parents have to sign a form which has a photo of the student and will be checked when they arrive by their school. I most definitely will be a happier mum when my daughter celebrates tomorrow night. I would also like to say that its always a small minority who make the headlines and not the majority!!! After my daughter completed her exams we had a discussion about the changes to be made with the Junior Cert in the coming years and she is glad to have sat state exams and knows now what to expect for the leaving Cert. Am just wondering if their opinion was asked for, when these changes were being made!