For many relieved graduates, it will be the end of their significant engagement with many subjects: they’ll never use a modh coinníollach verb or maths theorem again.
Most will find a variety of their chosen subjects beneficial as they enter third-level education or the workforce. But there’ll be a lot of students delighted that they’re leaving some mandatory or even optional subjects behind for good. After all, the Leaving Cert and CAO systems require students to sit exams in at least six different subjects, and the choice is sometimes limited.
In so many ways, the Leaving Cert curriculum is outdated. No doubt budget-strapped schools struggle to even offer many of the current batch of subjects, especially niche languages and more technical areas. There’s no benefit increasing the workload on students, either.
Nevertheless, there are some major gaps in the list of subjects as it stands. Perhaps it would be possible to clear an hour or two a week to give students a chance to engage with a different subject that might interest them – maybe even without a stressful exam at the end.
Practical issues aside, here are just some of the areas that future second level students might benefit from being able to study in more depth, hopefully embracing some of the innovations of the Vocational and Applied Leaving Cert programmes as well...
Media studies
There’s already a media studies strand in English, but it can easily get lost in all the poetry, literature and creative writing dominating a heavy curriculum. It’s about time teenagers were better equipped to deal with, filter through and ultimately participate with the mass media - whether that’s television, newspapers, radio or online.
Photography / Film
Two of the most prominent forms of contemporary visual communication, but again mostly relegated to the sidelines in English and Art. Not only would young students benefit from a better theoretical standing here, a more practical approach would be a vital part of a (currently hypothetical) curriculum whenever resources allow. No better time to start learning these skills than in a school context.
Physical education
Given that most schools still dedicate a chunk of the weekly timetable to PE - until the end of fifth year at least - it wouldn’t be that much of a stretch to formalise the subject. The health benefits are obvious. It wouldn’t even need to be a traditional exam subject, just some sort of credit for those students who participate and commit their time to PE.
Computing / ICT
Amazingly, there’s not yet any formal computing curriculum, with computer work only a part of the more general Technology subject. With the next generations of school leavers going to be even more reliant on ICT, it’s important they have a solid grounding in both the basics and more complex areas of computer technology (coding etc...).
Many schools do the best they can with their limited computing budgets, and already tablets and computers are playing a significant role in many classrooms. But a bigger commitment to IT education at an early stage could pay serious dividends along the line.
