THE length of the syllabus being examined, rather than the difficulty of the questions, appears to be the greatest problem facing students at higher level economics, following yesterday's papers. The thing about the higher(level paper is that the questions are all right," Mr Michael Corley, ASTI subject convenor and a teacher in St Flannan's College, Ennis, Co Clare, said. "They are, generally speaking, quite acceptable, and many have come up before.
"My worry about economics is that in the last couple of years there has been a drop in the number of students who do the higher level paper," Mr Corley "said. "There are problems there, "and one of the big ones is the extent of the syllabus."
The expansion of the syllabus with economic developments, including the Maastricht Treaty, low interest rates and the strength of the punt against sterling, means that teachers have to cover these new areas in addition to the established syllabus.
The syllabus is currently under review.
"Over the years it has gradually been accumulating topics," Mr Corley said. "In some way, we have to address the expanding nature of the syllabus or students seeking high points will be discouraged."
Of the questions themselves, Mr Corley felt that sections 7(a) and 7(b), on factors determining foreign exchange value of Irish currency and the consequences of the punt's continued valuation above sterling would have been more than sufficient for students without the addition of a section on the Maastricht Treaty. "Putting (c) there for a large element of 30 marks is over burdening the student," Mr Corley said.
While he said that questions 6 and 8, on emigration, population and economic growth and development, were easy, he noted that they came from similar sections of the course.
"There should have been a question on another section, say banking, to give an option to students who had concentrated on the whole course," he said.
He also suggested that the order of questions 5(b) and 5(c) should have been rearranged, so that the question on the importance of national income statistics could have been followed by a question on the limitations of their usage.
Ms Mary A Power, spokesperson for the Business Studies Teachers Association and a teacher in Scoil Mhuire, Greenhills, Carrick on Suir, Co Tipperary, described the higher level paper as "equitable".
"Students having worked consistently over the two years should have had no problem in the choice of questions available," she said.
Popular questions were questions 2, 3, 5, 6 and 8, she said, while she described question 1(c), on elasticities, and question 7(c) as the most difficult areas of the paper.
"I think I'd be generally happy with the ordinary level paper," Mr Corley said. "Last year they introduced changes in the paper in terms of putting a lot of information in the question. It's a good development and I think teachers will be happier with that as the years go on.
Ms Power also noted the amount of information given on the paper. Ordinary level students, she said, would have had no problem finding six suitable questions in Section A of the paper, and she praised the papers layout and the nature of the questions.
In Section B, she said, "the questions ranged over the entire course, were clearly laid out and the number of points required were specified where practical." "Students found this helpful in focusing their attention on what was required.
Agricultural economics
There were mixed blessings for Leaving Cert agricultural economics students at higher level yesterday, with straightforward questions on paper 1 but a "quite testing" array of questions on paper 2, according to Mr Larry Flanagan, ASTI subject convenor and a teacher in the Carmelite College, Moate, Co Westmeath.
"Some students could have experienced difficulties because of the technical nature of the questions, such as questions 2, 4 and 5," he said.
Question 4 was a blast of cold economic reality, since it gave cash flow over eight periods and asked students to calculate the maximum overdraft needed to stay in business, while question 8 examined students knowledge of the current situation in EU and world markets for agricultural produce.
At ordinary level, paper I was quite testing, Mr Flanagan said, while paper 2 was similar to previous years and was very "answerable".