Sir, – Speaking at the International Congress of Celtic Studies in NUI Maynooth recently, the Minister for Education and Skills, Ruairí Quinn, said, “The more we understand the past, the more we understand ourselves and our neighbours”. I could not agree more.
Ironically, this comes at a time when, if proposed reforms of the Junior Cert programme are introduced, the future of History is problematic.
Recent documents from the NCCA (National Council for Curriculum and Assessment) suggest that History will not form part of the core Junior Certificate curriculum.
The final set of proposals is due out shortly. It is to be hoped that the Minister will heed his own words at the Celtic Studies Congress. We do not need to produce a generation of students who have no idea what happened in 1913 and 1916. – Yours, etc,