FORMER TAOISEACH Garret FitzGerald, who died last month, featured in a question on yesterday’s higher level history paper.
Students were asked to consider the former Fine Gael leader’s contribution to Irish affairs. The paper featured a range of personalities including Gay Byrne, Marilyn Monroe, Margaret Thatcher, Mary Robinson and WB Yeats.
Students were reportedly “shocked” by an opening documents-based question on the Apprentice Boys of Derry. The Coleraine University controversy had been widely tipped for that section.
Otherwise, students were happy at the choice of questions and the amount of personalities involved.
“There were lots of key case studies and a minimum of three personalities in each section. Students will have been happy to see that,” said Tony Forrestal of Rosses Community School in Dunloe, Co Donegal.
“However, the Apprentice Boys question was a surprise. After the Sunningdale Agreement came up last year, Coleraine was expected this year.”
Some students complained that topic six, on the US, was a little misleading. The expected question on the Montgomery Boycott did not appear. Students were instead asked to assess the contribution of Martin Luther King.
“It’s basically the same question but not every student will have spotted that,” said Tony Forrestal.
Over 12,400 students sat yesterday’s Leaving Certificate history exam. Take-up has steadily risen since the subject was revamped in 2006 to reflect a broader cross section of historical figures and themes.
In the 1980s almost all students took history for the Leaving but by 2005 the numbers reached an all-time low, at less than 10,000.
The current syllabus is mainly delivered through close study of individual case studies and covers art, literature and social history, as well as featuring more women than the original course. Twenty per cent of the overall grade is awarded for a project completed earlier in the year.
“The paper was well balanced, the range of topics and the structure of the questions ensured that candidates were working hard for the two hours and 50 minutes of the exam,” said a teacher from the Institute of Education.
Yesterday’s ordinary level paper presented no unexpected problems, according to teachers.
Try this at home: Leaving Cert History higher level:
How did the US presidency develop from Roosevelt to Reagan?
What was the contribution of Martin Luther King to US affairs?
Why did the US lose the Vietnam War and/or what was the significance of the Moon landing?
What did one or more of the following contribute to American culture: Marilyn Monroe; Muhammad Ali; Billy Graham?
