Sir, - As a teacher of Leaving Certificate History, I was amused at some of the comments about the subject in the chief examiner's report for selected 1998 Leaving and Junior Cert. subjects. Concerning the Ordinary Level History paper, the report noted "an excellent knowledge and understanding of the history of the period 1870-1966." Yet it also noted that a disturbingly high 20 per cent of candidates have consistently failed in recent years.
The high failure rate is not surprising when the nature of the Ordinary Level exam is known. Much has been written recently about the unfairness of the Higher Level and I agree that having to do five essays within three hours in History while only four essays within the same three-hour period are required in comparable exams such as English Literature and Geography, is grossly unfair. This is the main reason why so many able History students do not take History at Leaving Cert. level but choose it as a main subject afterwards in university.
Spare a thought, however, for the poor Ordinary Level candidate who, within a three-hour paper (same duration as Higher Level) must attempt 16 short questions, four paragraphs and four essays. The 16 short questions and the four paragraphs more than adequately test the "knowledge and understanding of the history of the period", the stated aim of the exam. Having done this, the weaker Ordinary Level candidate is then obliged to display linguistic and analytical skills in four essays. Four essays is the only requirement in all other essay-type exams at Higher Level. The reason for the unacceptably high failure rate in Ordinary Level History is that, having waded through 16 low-scoring (five marks per question) short questions and four paragraph answers, the average Ordinary Level candidate understandably fails to attempt, or incompletely answers, the high-scoring (60 marks per essay) questions.
When will the powers-that-be realise that quantity does not equal quality? Three essays in three hours is the norm in undergraduate exams in History. There is something seriously wrong when, relatively speaking, the Leaving Cert. History exam (at both levels) is both physically and mentally more demanding than university exams in the same subject. This matter must be seriously and urgently addressed. Otherwise, History as a Leaving Cert. subject will indeed become history. - Yours, etc., A. Kehoe,
Dublin 15.