Mary Moran (Labour) | Oireachtas source

Moreover, from my previous experience of supervising State leaving certificate examinations, I can recall a situation that was changed a few years ago in which English examinations took place in the morning and the students had a three-hour writing marathon, followed by a history examination in the afternoon of three hours and 20 minutes. I recall watching students shaking their hands every ten minutes because they could not get down on paper fast enough what they wished to express. At a time like the present, when things are so competitive at third level, unfortunately factors like this have crept into subjects and this has become a key concern of students and a reason for them to choose subjects for the leaving certificate examination. I read an important and interesting article by Tom Collins in this morning's edition of The Irish Times, in which he wrote the single most important attribute a young person should have acquired by the end of the junior certificate cycle is a love for learning. That is very important and were one to make something compulsory, as was seen when Irish was made a compulsory subject, one would be in danger of losing all that. Compulsion of any sort is likely to diminish this possibility.

This does not take away from the importance of history on which I completely agree. However, a considerable amount of cross-communication and cross-learning takes place between subjects in schools even as it is and this point has not been referred to in today's debate. As for my own subject, when teaching Irish music I also teach the history because what was going on at a particular time is highly pertinent to the history of music in question, be it in Ireland or in European countries. One can understand the music and culture much better if one understands the underlying history. Consequently, history is being taught in other subjects and I have lobbied for greater correspondence in this regard for many years. I believe the reform of the junior cycle will encourage greater communication between subjects and will encourage people who are learning Irish, for example, to learn the history. Similarly, when students are learning music or English, the subject will be incorporated and there will be cross-subject and cross-curricular teaching in this regard.

As for short courses, I refer to the consideration of one's own town and the new junior cycle reform will offer far greater scope than was the case previously to local people to examine local areas in the first instance. The 12-year olds who come into secondary schools often do not know the history or significance of, for example, the castle standing at the bottom of the school or are not familiar with the graveyard or its contents and do not know its underlying significance. Consequently, this proposal has provided the ideal opportunity to examine what is in one's own area. It also depends on the individual teacher. I have complete faith that schools are sensible enough to know what they must put on the curriculum. Teachers are sensible enough to know what they want to teach and to feed that passion into it. I respect and understand where Senator O'Donnell is coming from and acknowledge this issue must be reconsidered and the numbers ascertained in a few years' time. While there must be reviews and one must keep looking at it, the advantage of the reform is one can do so. As the Senator noted, one must look and learn about the hardships and as Senator Ó Murchú stated, one must learn from one's mistakes and to learn to move forward. Nevertheless, I have great confidence in the Minister's words and in his decision that history will not lose out during the junior cycle reform.