Leaving Cert students told there are options for all
There are opportunities for every Leaving Certificate student even if they did not achieve the grades they hoped for, education officials said tonight.
The Institute of Guidance Counsellors and the National Parents Council were among those to reassure students that there were thousands of courses available to them, catering to different results and skills.
Brian Mooney, president of the Institute of Guidance Counsellors, said his first piece of advice would be for youngsters to relax and enjoy their achievements ahead of offers being issued by the Central Applications Office on Monday.
“It’s 14 years of hard work at school and it’s what you have achieved; it’s a tremendous achievement to have gone through the Leaving Certificate.”
He recommended that once the CAO issued offers for third level courses on Monday, students should look closely at what they were offered to see if it would suit them.
“There are so many ladders of opportunity going from one level to another.”
“It’s not a question of waiting on exactly what you want, because what you are being offered may be exactly what you need to get you where you want to be,” he said.
“There was a theory in the past that you did your Leaving Certificate and you got a job based on that which you did for the next 40 years.
“That’s not the reality, that’s not how the world works.”
He also said once the offers are out on Monday, students can consider applying to view their papers to see whether it is worth asking for a recheck.
Around 10% of papers rechecked – 2,000 out of the 20,000 re-examined – gain an upgrade, he said.
Eleanor Petrie, of the National Parents Council (post-primary) urged students to hold their nerve through the offers process and to look at the huge variety of courses available.
She said the council’s helpline had received many calls, particularly over concerns about failures in maths and also biology, which affected students applying for nursing courses.
Education Minister Mary Hanafin acknowledged that the high failure rates in maths and science had to be addressed, and said the priorities were to re-examine the maths curriculum and encourage more students to take science courses.
Ms Hanafin said she agreed with business organisation IBEC’s concerns that changes were needed to address a high failure rate in the maths papers, and she also acknowledged there had been a high level of failure in the biology course.
But the minister pointed to an increase in the number of students gaining A grades in physics and said it was important to encourage more students to take science subjects.
Ms Hanafin rejected calls to abandon foundation level maths.
“I don’t agree with getting rid of the foundation level because everybody needs an opportunity to take maths at their own level,” she said.
And she also urged students not to get today’s results out of proportion.
“Today is not either the beginning or the end of their lives or their career, there are huge opportunities there.
“Thousands can do courses of their own interest and further their careers,” she said.
While thousands of teenagers were out celebrating tonight, three Cork students had a particularly big achievement to toast – a record nine A1 grades each.
Ms Hanafin congratulated the three students for their record-breaking results.
“What that shows is that the education system obviously helps not just the average student, or the weaker students we’re helping with special courses, but also the high-fliers.
“The world is their oyster, but equally for other students there’s so many courses and so many choices from Leaving Cert to post-graduate courses,” she said.
:: The National Parents Council’s helpline is on 1800 265 165.
:: The Institute of Guidance Counsellors has a website, www.qualifax.ie, which lists all of the courses available in the country.
