Letters to the Editor: Concerns over changes to the Leaving Cert
"Unfortunately he voices of practising teachers and other stakeholders are not reflected in the proposed model for assessing laboratory practical skills."
With regard to the article by Jess Casey on January 22, 2025, âSurvey: Teachers worry Leaving Cert change will create stress and authentication issuesâ, I wish to raise two critical points as a practising teacher and member of the NCCA Physics Subject Development Group.
Firstly, while it may appear that practising teachers on NCCA committees have influence over key decisions, the reality is quite different.
Both the ASTI and the Irish Science Teachersâ Association have publicly dissociated themselves from the research project components (worth 40%) of the new curricula in biology, chemistry, and physics.
Furthermore, the Irish Universities Association representatives on the NCCA subject development groups for these subjects have also publicly dissociated themselves from this component of the new curricula.
These dissociations are based on valid concerns detailed in publicly available statements from these organisations.
Unfortunately, the voices of practising teachers and other stakeholders are not reflected in the proposed model for assessing laboratory practical skills.
Secondly, the proposed model of assessment for the three science subjects fundamentally differs from the existing models of additional assessment components in subjects such as languages and music.
In those subjects, an external examiner directly assesses studentsâ linguistic and musical skills by means of oral exams or musical performances.
However, in the science subjects, laboratory practical skills will by assessed solely by means of a document submitted by each student.
Such documents can easily be generated within minutes using AI tools, raising significant concerns about authentication.
Thus, this model of indirect assessment of laboratory practical skills is fundamentally flawed.
Without addressing this vulnerability by devising an alternative model, the integrity of the Leaving Certificate examination is at serious risk.
It is crucial that these issues are resolved before implementing the new curricula in physics, chemistry, and biology to ensure fairness, maintain standards, and protect the credibility of the Leaving Certificate.
As a proud Corkman, I was somewhat discombobulated to learn of a global survey which found Cork City to be one of the most congested cities in the world, beating London and Rome.
I found it emboldening to learn that Irelandâs South MEP Cynthia NĂ MhurchĂș has written to Cork City Council seeking solutions to Corkâs traffic problems.
If one happens to be on a bus or a car travelling through Cork, then it appears that one might be in trouble.
Itâs reported that travellers are losing hours.
It seems that the number of hours depends on several metrics and routes.
I find it incredulous to glean that Cork is more congested than London, Toronto, or Rome.
According to sat nav company TomTom, Cork is the 38th most congested city in the world.
This congestion is detrimental not only to people who are trying to get to school and work but obviously to businesses and for the cityâs Foreign Direct Investment.
This congestion is worsening air quality and increasing commuter time.
This is a clarion call to the powers that be to look at what needs to be done apropos the fixing of this imbroglio.
An application by the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) to delay a civil case against the force in relation to how it investigated the Omagh bombing has been ruled out by a judge on human rights grounds.
The PSNI sought a stay on civil proceedings initiated by Michael Gallagher, the father of one of the victims, citing a potential overlap between the case and their own work investigations.
Counsel for the police also argued that a delay to proceedings would result in a saving of public money.
But the judge rejected the application, saying: âThe factor which bears the heaviest weight in this application is, however, the issue of time and delay.â
If that is the case, what about investigations into other deaths and injuries, some of them reaching back over 50 years?
New options, such as the Truth Recovery Process, are urgently needed before it is too late for everyone.
The solution to this mess that the city has turned into is simple but requires forward thinking, emergency planning approval, and investment in infrastructure as follows.
- A signature bridge over the tunnel which, since the upgrade, is an utter disaster.
- The construction of the north ring road.
- The construction of three/four additional park-and-ride facilities strategically positioned in the city as provided for in the LUTS plan in the 1970s.
- The construction of a light rail system in the city as a matter of urgency.
- The construction, where feasible, of bus lanes separate to the light rail system but linked where necessary.
- The integration of cycle lanes that work in tandem with all modes of transport not inhibiting same.
The election of MicheĂĄl Martin as Taoiseach was deliberately unstaged by a party whose modus operandi is not based on the protection of our State and its institutions.
It has constantly sought to undermine our gardaĂ and has failed to show due respect to the families of murdered gardaĂ.
It must have been a painful watch as they continued with bullying tactics and aggressive speech and concluded with the infamous and provocative words: âOur day will come.â
Thanks to the intelligence and wisdom of the Irish public, the events of January 21 will live longer in the consciousness of a mature Irish electorate.
However, while I wish Mr Martin and the new administration the best, it has been entrusted with the most serious mandate to bring about serious and fundamental change to enhance the lives of its people, the disabled, the sick, the homeless, and the house hunters.
The bar is high â failure to clear these jumps may bring about a political change that many have been falsely predicting up to now.
May I finish by saying to Mr Martin and Simon Harris that your day has arrived â please do not let the Irish people down.
Can we stop talking about Donald Trump?
The election between a regime administering genocide and an oligarch who is less genteel about his goals than his opponents didnât interest me much at the time.
But, now, we should focus on our own government.
Americans wailed about the betrayal of those who voted for Trump (ignoring the contradiction of voting for genocide).
How about the betrayal, yet again, of the youth, the disabled, and the renters in Ireland?
Just like in the US, a sizeable proportion of people in this country (predominantly older and more financially secure) took a look at the situation we are in and decided it would be good to vote for the parties who have been at the helm, on and off, for 20 years.
The parties of brown envelopes and the Celtic Tiger.
The parties of homelessness and lying about numbers of âillegal immigrantsâ â that last part sounds familiar to Trump.
They vote for parties in which one-third of TDs are landlords. Whatâs next for the housing crisis they have no interest in fixing?
Iâm sick of reading about despair for âAmerican democracyâ. The US empire will come to its own end in time.
Here, in Ireland, as a young person, there is no end in sight to be able to have a home and healthcare.
