Girls doing 4 times as much study as boys.

Group seeks reform of Leaving Cert
The Leaving Certificate curriculum needs to be recast to reflect the fundamental principles of education and to take account of current best practice internationally, a leading youth organisation has said.

Youth Work Ireland re-iterated its call for widespread reform of the curriculum following research by the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) which highlights the negative effect of the exams on the health of Leaving Cert students.

The preliminary findings of the Post-Primary Longitudinal Study, carried out for the National Council of Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA), show four out of ten Leaving Cert students lose sleep because of worry.

The study of 900 students in 12 case-study schools, to be published later this year, shows a higher level of stress among girls doing the Leaving Cert according to Emer Smyth, research professor with the ESRI.

She said the findings were consistent with international research which shows high levels of stress among students taking final second level exams.

The research shows that girls spend longer on their homework than boys, with girls spending an average of four hours or more per night on homework, while boys tend to study for an hour or less, she said.

Youth Work Ireland said there is need for a much wider debate involving continuous assessment, credit systems, team working, critical thinking and industry linkage.

The group warned however that the process needs to look at the exam and syllabus in the broadest possible way and focus on the interests of young people by involving all of them in any changes.

Michael McLoughlin, director of central services with Youth Work Ireland, said “Many do well out of the Leaving Certificate but the enormous build up of pressure coupled with our persistently high drop out rates must spur on the reform process”.

“Previous reforms such as the Leaving Cert Applied, Vocational and transition year have shown that mainstream schools can be adapted to serve all young people,” Mr McLoughlin said.