Junior Cert students submit petition to Oireachtas to add 30 minutes to English exam
Four Junior Certificate students have appeared before an Oireachtas committee, after submitting a petition on adding 30 extra minutes to the English exam.
15-year-old Tara O'Sullivan from Loreto College, St. Stephen's Green in Dublin led the submission to the Joint Committee on Public Petitions, and appeared alongside Adrianne Ward, Ellen McKimm and Faye Dolan today.
Committee chair Sean Sherlock says it is the first time petitioners have appeared before it.
Ms O'Sullivan says the current time limit isn't fair.
"When I understand that we are to do this English paper in two hours I was shocked," said the 15-year-old student.
"Without any consistency, working out how much time to spend on each question was practically a guessing game.
"I know several students that actually brought calculators into their English exam.
"It was like a competition to see who fast you could write instead of an actual test of your knowledge and ability.
"To give students the opportunity to express their thoughts and analysis as eloquently as expected, I truly believe more time is necessary."
