Latest news with #Leaving
Irish Independent
19-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Independent
Letters: Until Eurovision political scream-fest reverts to real song contest, RTÉ should opt out
Thankfully Austria won and we didn't have the political embarrassment of Israel winning. So it should be 'so long, farewell, auf wiedersehen, au revoir and a good night' until it returns to a proper song contest, if ever. There are better things for RTÉ to spend its budget on. Aidan Roddy, Cabinteely, Dublin 18 John Burns can be grateful he wasn't a TV actor in the '70s – he'd have gone broke As someone who has been trying for years to lose a stone in weight, I was hugely impressed by John Burns's account of how he lost eight times that ('Few will mourn the death of WeightWatchers, but I certainly don't miss the eight stone it helped me lose', Irish Independent, May 16). It's all the more impressive given that Mr Burns worked in journalism, a trade given to long hours and shift work. However, he was lucky he wasn't an actor. In the 1960s and '70s, Patrick Newell (1932-1988) specialised in playing rotund villains or comic characters. His most famous part was that of Mother in The Avengers TV series alongside Diana Rigg and Patrick Macnee. Newell described himself as an 'actor with a weight problem' because the more he tried to diet, the less work he got. Karl Martin, Bayside, Dublin 13 Teacher concerns about Leaving reform are valid – McEntee should listen Education Minister Helen McEntee has warned that secondary school teachers could lose up to 5pc of pay due under public service deals if they fail to co-operate with proposed Leaving Cert reforms. This confrontational approach is ill-advised as teachers have legitimate concerns about the integrity, equity and fairness of the proposed 'Additional Assessment Components' (AAC), based on candidates' unsupervised external work. An AAC will be worth at least 40pc of the marks and is reputedly designed to assess students' skills and competencies in a way that a terminal written exam cannot. All new and revised Leaving Cert subjects will include at least one AAC. Seven revised Leaving Cert subjects as well as two new subjects, Drama, Film and Theatre Studies, and Climate Action and Sustainable Development are due for introduction in September. Further sets of revised subjects will be phased in annually until 2029. The official view that the AAC will reduce the stress on students at the terminal written exams is psychologically naive. Teachers have concerns about the Leaving Cert reforms, particularly the acceleration of their implementation amid growing concerns about assessment integrity. Teachers feel there is a lack of knowledge and guidance on the use of AI and on the authentication of students' work. Smaller class sizes, more access to IT in classrooms, more support for students with special education needs and less well-off students are also priorities for teachers. The minister must take the teachers' concerns on board as the devil is in the detail. Consider the effect of the AAC in higher-level maths. The AAC is worth at least 40pc of the marks – grade H6, or 46 CAO points. But as 25 bonus points are awarded in higher-level maths for grade H6 or above, many candidates will have scored 71 CAO points in maths ever before sitting the terminal exam. Expect the AI experts to jump on that gravy train. Billy Ryle, Tralee, Co Kerry I don't want a librarian fixing my car and the same logic applies for educators Labour's Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill which is being discussed at present will require new teachers to have earned 'Qualified Teacher Status' or be working to obtain it. It would seem obvious a teacher had to be a teacher in fact, not just in name. Covid demonstrated that every parent believed they could be a teacher to their own children until they actually tried to do it, and realised that on Friday afternoons, some students' enthusiasm waned – and many had even waned by Monday afternoon. Appropriate qualifications are needed, not just advisable. I don't want my car serviced by a librarian, nor do I ask for reading advice from a mechanic. I want people who know what they are doing after having studied and developed experience in their specialty. In hindsight, however, I have to admit that much of my own four-year teaching degree was a waste of time and practical experience was the best way to develop my classroom skills. Dennis Fitzgerald, Melbourne, Australia US president will reap the whirlwind of his carnage when mid-terms come up US president Trump has had many failures and in fairness, some successes. For instance, he failed to fix the Ukraine-Russia war in 24 hours. He failed to solve the genocidal war in Gaza and failed to make Canada the 51st state. He has failed to take over Greenland and the Panama Canal. His deluded tariff war has backfired spectacularly, leading to increased inflation and possibly a recession. As for his successes, he has managed to make the US a world laughing stock and he himself its greatest buffoon – if a dangerous one. He has also succeeded in alienating America's closest allies and needlessly disrupted the global trading system. The only consolation is that many of his MAGA supporters, as they face increasing prices while they lose their jobs, medical aid and social insurance, are slowly beginning to realise that they were conned by Trump and his sycophants and will hopefully respond accordingly in the mid-term elections next year. John Leahy, Wilton Road, Cork No child should have to live with impaired vision because of cost constraints As a grandmother, I never imagined a child's ability to see would depend on their family's ability to pay. My granddaughter is four. She has a +7.5 prescription in one eye and +7.25 in the other. The HSE covers one pair of glasses, including lens thinning, but that's where the help ends. When the time came to get a second pair, we had to pay €270. It cost €170 to thin the lenses, €100 for frames. For many families, that is impossible. No child should be left unable to see because their parents or guardians can't afford a back-up. This is something the HSE and our politicians need to urgently fix. Catherine Masterson, Carlow
Indian Express
17-05-2025
- General
- Indian Express
Kerala Plus Two results next week; how to check scores on DigiLocker
The Kerala Directorate of Higher Secondary Examination (DHSE) will likely release the results of the Class 12 Board examination on May 21, according to the state's education minister V Sivankutty. Candidates will be able to check the Kerala Plus Two result 2025 on the official result website, and Alternatively, students can check the results on DigiLocker. The DHSE Kerala 12th board examination 2025 was held from March 3 to 26. For the arts stream, the exams were held from March 3 to 21. Step 1: Go to Digilocker app or website and register or login. Step 2: Now navigate to the Education Section. Step 3: Here from the different boards that will be visible, select the Kerala board and select 'Class XII School Leaving Certificate.' Step 4: Enter your credentials – your registration number and date of birth. Step 5: Download the marksheet. Last year, the Kerala Plus Two result was out on May 9. A total of 4,41,120 candidates appeared for the examination, out of which, 2,94,888 students passed, bringing the overall pass percentage to 78.69%. Candidates can also check their board examination result through SMS or mobile application of Kerala board, Saphalam. For checking results via SMS, students have to type, 'KERALA12 ' and send it to 56263. They will receive their class 12 result on their mobile number. The DHSE Plus One exams 2025 were held in pen-paper format and concluded on March 29. Results for Kerala Secondary School Leaving Certificate Examination (SSLC) for Class 10 were announced May 9.
RTÉ News
16-05-2025
- Science
- RTÉ News
'Unintended' impacts of bonus points for Higher Level Maths
The awarding of bonus points to students who achieve a pass or more in Higher Level Maths has had unintended negative consequences and should be re-assessed, a new study has found. The study was carried out by the National Centre for STEM Education with academics from Mary Immaculate College, UCC and UL. Their findings are based on an analysis of data from the State Examinations Commission as well as perspectives gathered from almost 2,000 students and teachers. 'Bonus Territory: The Shifting Landscape of Higher Level Senior Cycle Mathematics' finds that while the introduction of bonus points in 2012 led to a 130% increase in students opting to complete the Higher Level Leaving Certificate course, the move has led to a reduction in Mathematical standards and a slowing of the pace of learning in classes. Since 2012, students who achieve a score of 40% or more in Higher Level Leaving Certificate Maths gain an additional 25 points. Prior to their introduction in 2011, 15.6% of Maths students opted for the Higher Level paper, but by 2017 that had risen to 30%, and it stood at 36.3% in 2024. Bonus points are cited by most students in the research as the key reason for choosing Higher Level Mathematics, so the potential 25 point CAO boost on offer is the appeal as opposed to the love or challenge of Mathematics. The research finds that teachers of Higher Level Senior Cycle Mathematics are experiencing significant challenges in relation to catering for widening ranges of achievement in their classrooms, with an increasing number of students requiring extra support. This in turn has led to a reduction in the pace of learning and greater demands on teachers' time and energy. "Teachers have also expressed concerns that opportunities to engage in more challenging material are limited and, as a result, worry that their higher attaining students may not be challenged sufficiently," it states. The report finds that standards linked to grades awarded upon completion of Senior Cycle Higher Level Mathematics appear to have declined in the past 15 years. Marks awarded in the Leaving Certificate are benchmarked against previous years and this tends to maintain the proportion of students achieving a given grade level in a subject from year to year. The practice is known as "attainment referencing". "It has become less of a challenge to achieve these higher grades and, thus, standards in Mathematics appear to have declined as a result," the report concludes. "With the significant growth and transformation in a typical Higher Level Senior Cycle Mathematics cohort, maintaining relatively similar grade attainment levels led to a greater number of students achieving grades at the upper end when compared to previous cohorts." "These findings indicate that while measures such as [bonus points] appear to work well on the surface, they need to be adopted with care and consideration for the broad range of consequences, intended and unintended, that they may have on a variety of stakeholders," the report finds. Top among a number of recommendations the report calls on policy makers to re-assess the nature of bonus points to reduce the incentive to aim for a low passing grade. It proposes linking the number of bonus points awarded to the grade achieved, which would result in a greater number of bonus points for those with higher grades. Expressing concern at the "extrinsic" nature bonus points in motivating students to study the subject at Higher Level, the report states: "More focus should be placed on interventions which enhance students' attitudes towards Mathematics, thereby boosting intrinsic motivation to study the subject at Higher Level." The report authors, Drs Paraic Treacy of MIC, Mark Prendergast of UCC, and Niamh O'Meara of UL, say it is the culmination of six years of research examining the impact of bonus points, as well as the wider implications for the education system in Ireland. "This report gives us a clearer picture of the totality of the impact of bonus points and outlines evidence-informed action which should be taken in light of these findings", they say. Prof Geraldine Mooney Simmie, Director of EPISTEM, the National Centre for STEM Education in UL, called the report "detailed and timely". She said: "The insights and evidence from this study will be of great interest to a wide number of policymakers and will help to shape a futures-oriented view of the important role of Mathematics Education and STEM Education in a fast-changing world".
The Journal
12-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Journal
Dublin student Oscar Despard to lead his team in final of BBC's University Challenge tonight
DUBLIN STUDENT OSCAR Despard will be competing in the final of the prestigious BBC quiz show University Challenge tonight. The 22-year-old Dubliner is captain of the Christ's College team from Cambridge University. He will be leading his team against the University of Warwick. University Challenge is a long-running quiz show in which teams comprising students from universities in the UK battle it out, answering questions about esoteric topics. Advertisement In the recent semi-final, Despard's team competed against the University of Bristol for a place in the final; Bristol's team was also captained by a Dubliner, 28-year-old Kevin Flanagan. Belfast's Queen's University made it as far as the quarter-finals. Despard, who is studying for his PhD in molecular biology, is joined by teammates Brendan Bethlehem, Linus Luu, and Anniko Firman. He told The Irish Times that the four put together a big spreadsheet covering around 200 topics that were likely to come up in the programme and then divided the categories between themselves. Humanitarian aid organisation Concern wished Despard and his team luck on X this afternoon. In 2019, he captained his school's team in the finals of the Concern Debates. Related Reads Quiz: Could you make it to the University Challenge final? The student attended Sandford Park School in Ranelagh, Dublin, where he was one of just two students in the country to achieve 9 H1s in his Leaving Cert in 2021. The grand final airs tonight on BBC2 at 8:30pm. Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone... A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation. Learn More Support The Journal
