Education system in Ireland

Some students are barely coming away with basic grammar or maths, those skills seem to be suffering in the name of more 'progressive' subjects.


What students are interested in will not help them progress intellectually. They will have to learn that you may have to study things you don't like. School is not meant to be liked, it is meant to be hard work.

Liberal arts would be over popular will not offer many prospects after school.

Why should the taxpayer fund a hobby curriculum?

You are advocating the type of system they have in America and the UK. Err, no thank you.

What you want to do in life and what you need to be able to make a living are very different.

I definitely think languages need to be overhauled and introduced at a younger age. And Irish should be made voluntary.

We actually need a move towards the sciences and not away from them.

If anyone is paying any attention to what is going on in the country they must realize the days of a students choosing their interests are numbered. We have to teach them skills for the positions that are available. And the skills that ar needed by the economy at the moment are the sciences and languages.

I would also advocate teaching, critical thinking and philosophical subjects such as formal logic. It helps students understand maths and computer science more easily and without any need to make those subjects easier. Infact they are able to understand them in more depth.

I think the study of Shakespeare is justified (i even feel arrogant for seeming to think I am fit to judge) . One of the most important reasons to study him is the rare quality of his work. The richness of his literary devices give you the oppertunity to develop your mind and English skills with a breadth of variety that might be curtailed with some other writers. It is one of the best obstacle courses your education will ever get. It provides great academic rigour in an arts subject, which is important. The arts can become too liberal in their standards sometimes. He contributed so greatly that it could be argued that an adequate knowledge of his work is essential to 'cultural literacy'. He is still entirely relevant and gives great insight to the eternal questions. He writes on sexuality, war, suicide, family, economics,class and politics. What more could you want? My only complaint is his lack of development for his female sometimes. But there are some but not a lot of female characters that make for exceptions.

The study of languages neds to start much earlier and a higher standard must be achieved. A knowledge of linguistics would prove useful in aiding the learning of lanuages, as part of the course. It would make things much easier. Also mor mphasis should be placed on English grammar, as many students are unfamiliar with gramatical terms,tools and structures. It is essential for a student to be able to understand sentence formation for learning any language. It can be frustrating otherwise and they feel that they are not progressing to a conversational level. There should be more native speakers teaching with the ability to give grammatical consistancy. Students seem to think if they simply hear a language long enough it will seep in. And whilst that dfinitely helps we know a lot more about languages now and how they are learnt. It is more complicated than that. But i think the sad fact is that most secondary school teachers do not have a high enough level of their language.

I think a lot of what we used to teach to kids to help them learn has been stripped away.

For instance, the study of music and music theory, would require a good knowledge of maths.