Vol. 439 No. 2
148 Mr. Bell asked the Minister for Education the number of pupils sitting leaving certificate music examination without taking the subject as part of the school curriculum; if her attention has been drawn to the fact that statistics report that music is near Latin in extinction in secondary schools; and if she will make a statement on the matter.
It is not possible to give precise information on the breakdown of the number of pupils taking music as a subject wholly or partially in their regular schools.
Analysis of the second level pupil database indicates that the number of pupils taking music as a subject in the final year of the leaving certificate programme in the school year 1993-94 is 1,173. However, in some cases, all or part of the programme may be taught outside of the regular school curriculum.
A total of 1,187 candidates sat for music examinations in the leaving certificate examinations in June 1993. This represented an increase of approximately 13 per cent on the previous year. A total of 8,941 candidates, which represents an increase of approximately 2 per cent took music in the junior certificate examination in 1993.
The corresponding figures for Latin in 1993 examinations were: leaving certificate: 285, representing a decrease of 8 per cent on the previous year; junior certificate: 891, representing an increase of 4.5 per cent on the previous year.
The numbers taking music are considerably in excess of those taking Latin.
