Making economics relevant to the everyday world

Population growth, public sector borrowing and the difficulties facing An Post, were among the topics which featured in yesterday's Leaving Certificate higher and ordinary level economics papers. Nearly 5,000 students sat the exam.

There was a mixed reaction from teachers to the higher level paper. The subject has long been popular with repeat students, who opt to take it "from scratch" over the course of one year, as well as fifth-year students who found the subjects they had originally chosen were not to their liking.

But some teachers remarked that this year's paper saw the continuation of a trend where students are increasingly being asked to apply information they have learned to particular situations.

According to Elaine Hogan, a teacher at Ashfield College in Dublin, few of the long questions were straightforward.

"They nearly all had a different slant," she said. "I think they need to give us a few more sample papers like this, if this is the way the subject is going to go. I do think this is a better paper but it is taxing for students who may not be looking for an A."

Pat Collins, ASTI subject representative and a teacher at CBS Tramore, said yesterday's higher level paper was topical and relevant to everyday life. The students he had spoken to after the exam had all stayed "right until the end, so there was plenty to do on it", he said.

"I think it was generally a paper that would reward students for the work they had done," Mr Collins continued. "The only snag was maybe in the short questions. If they didn't know their definitions, weaker students might be caught out. I think all the long questions at higher level were certainly doable."

Mr Collins added that he was happy with yesterday's ordinary level paper, and said a question on the fall in the demand for postal services once again illustrated the relevance of economics to the everyday world.

Some of the material, such as one on "invisible exports", also overlapped with the Junior Certificate syllabus.

Ms Hogan praised the way in which the marks for each question were allocated, and said it was a fair ordinary level paper. Students dropping down from the honours paper would have encountered few difficulties, she added.