Sir, – In response to the letter “Restoring geography as a compulsory school subject” (November 19th), it is worth looking at the Junior Cycle as a whole rather than subject specific.
Last summer we saw our students sit, for the first time, the new Junior Cycle science exam. With this new exam came the study of climate change. Our science students must now be able to illustrate how Earth processes and human factors influence the Earth’s climate, evaluate effects of climate change and initiatives that attempt to address those effects. In addition, science students must be able to evaluate how humans contribute to sustainability with regard to our energy production and consumption.
Climate change is undoubtedly the greatest threat to global security, human health and biodiversity. It should and must be studied by our Junior Cycle students.
It would be a great disservice to our students if there are large overlaps in course content of subjects studied.
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Junior Cycle students have seen the introduction of new “short courses” which include physical education, coding, and philosophy, but try as we might, our students only have access to the same number of hours per day as the rest of the population. – Yours, etc,
ALAN GOODISON,
Science Teacher in Gorey Community School,
Co Wexford.