Vol. 190 No. 4
asked the Minister for Education if he is aware of the unrest and resentment among teachers, parents and students arising out of an erratic and difficult geography paper set for students sitting for this year's Intermediate Certificate Examination; if he is aware that students taking the minimum number of subjects in this examination may fail the examination because of the global vagaries of the compiler of this paper; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
17.
asked the Minister for Education if he is satisfied that the recent Leaving Certificate geography examination paper was a fair knowledge test; if he will comment on the practical application of a knowledge of the zenithal, azimuthal or gnomonic projection for the many thousands of students who must find a job on the basis of a Leaving Certificate which is notoriously inadequate in its application to the needs of industrial and commercial requirements.
With your permission, a Cheann Chomhairle, I propose to take Questions 16 and 17 together.
My Department has not received, nor is it aware of, any complaints that the Intermediate Certificate Geography paper was either difficult or erratic. Accordingly the remaining part of the Question does not arise.
The reference in the second Question would appear to be to the Leaving Certificate Honours Geography paper. The paper concerned is fully within the programme in Geography for Leaving Honours outlined in the Rules and Regulations for Secondary Schools.
The aim of the Leaving Certificate, as stated in those Rules and Regulations, is "to testify to the completion of a good secondary education and to the fitness of a pupil to enter on a course of study at a university or an educational institution of similar standing."
I do not accept that the Leaving Certificate, either in itself or by comparison with equivalent examinations, is in any way inadequate for its purposes.
In so far as pertains to industrial and commercial requirements, I have expert advice that not only is a knowledge of the map projection concerned of educational value, but that it is of basic importance in the matter of air transport in all fields, including industrial and commercial.
