Junior Cycle “reforms” not helping students

Sir, – Further to “Junior Cycle reforms leave students unprepared for Leaving Cert, study finds” (Education, May 22nd), I sat in a room 10 years ago with colleagues at an in-service training day for the new Junior Certificate Programme. We were the first group of teachers, English being the first Junior Cert subject to be “reformed”, receiving training for said reform. By the end of the day I think it is fair to say that none of us had any faith in the proposals and time has proven us right. In particular, we raised and continue to raise issues regarding the enormous gap between the standard expected between Junior and Leaving cert. The Junior Cert used to be good preparation for the one that really mattered. Now it’s a nonsense. And to cap it all you have the truly extraordinary situation which has arisen where it is more difficult to get top marks in most Junior Cert subjects than it is in the Leaving Cert, The reform has failed. Utterly. We tried to warn you. But as is so often the case, we, at the coalface, were ignored. – Yours, etc,

ALAN O’CONNOR,

Donnycarney,

Dublin 9.