Transition Year has done “generations of young people the world of good” since it was introduced in Ireland 30 years ago.
The concept was first introduced a pilot project in September 1974 and was fully introduced across Ireland’s school system 20 years later in 1994.
On Newstalk Breakfast this morning, presenters Jonathan Healy and Shane Coleman had different takes on the success of the project 30 years on.
'Huge advocate'
Jonathan said he was one of the first to go through the year – and has always believed it was beneficial.
“It was a very new concept when I did it,” he said.
“It was thrown in there because I was a bit young and I didn't know what I wanted to do.
“It was an opportunity to go in and test and sample the subjects while broadening my horizons a little bit.
“I have to say, it did me the world a good and has done generations of young people the world of good.”
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He said he is a “huge advocate” of Transition Year.
“There is no need to rush; you need to take in all of what life has to offer, be a bit of work experience or, you know, learning how to drive is the new thing that seems to be happening a lot in Transition Year.
“It is an opportunity, after the stress of the academic cycle, just to pause for a little bit and to see what you might want to do with your life.
“It's hard enough being a teenager without going straight into the Leaving Cert and I think that Transition Year has a real role to play.”
'Lads with full beards'
Shane said he is less convinced about the benefits.
“My daughter has just finished Transition Year and she an absolutely brilliant year, but I have certain reservations about it – one of them being the age at which kids leave school now,” he said.
“My young fella is nearly 19 doing his Leaving Cert. I mean, there's lads with full beards, in school uniforms walking around.
“I think a lot of them are ready to get out of school and the restrictions of school by then and maybe a year earlier so I wonder, is a little bit too long?”
'Doss year'
He noted that many pupils still refer to Transition Year as a ‘doss year’ and there is a concern that they fall out of good academic habits with no exams to focus on.
He said many parents can also find the costs prohibitive – with school trips and activities often becoming “extraordinarily” expensive.
Jonathan said Transition Year offers students a taste of what their working life will be life – as they are asked to go out and source their own work experience.
Mostly he said, kids need a break between the Junior and Senior cycles.
“They're going to be facing into three years, probably minimum, of further education for most of them,” he said.
“Then some of them, if they really want to pursue it, they will be going in for another two years after that to go into Masters.
“Can you imagine the length of the beard on them then?”
