Skip to main content
Normal View

Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 30 Jun 1998

Vol. 493 No. 3

Written Answers. - Leaving Certificate Curriculum.

Seymour Crawford

Question:

475 Mr. Crawford asked the Minister for Education and Science the basis, if any, there is for an article in a newspaper (details supplied) which suggested that the works of Patrick Kavanagh would be removed from the school curriculum; if so, the person who made this decision; the reason for this decision; his views on whether Patrick Kavanagh is one of Ireland's most able and famous poets; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16283/98]

The new leaving certificate English syllabus will be introduced into schools in September 1999 and will be examined for the first time in June 2001. A list of prescribed texts for the first course has already issued to schools. This list draws on an extensive pool of poets specifically prepared for the syllabus by the leaving certificate English syllabus committee of the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment, following wide consultation with the representative bodies. The pool includes many Irish poets such as Séamus Heaney, Eavan Boland, Eiléan Ní Chuilleanain, Paul Durcan, Michael Hartnett and John Montague. The pool also includes W.B. Yeats and Patrick Kavanagh who featured on leaving certificate courses since the late 1960s. This wider range of poets will give added vibrancy, vitality and immediacy to what is already being studied at senior cycle in secondary schools.

While Patrick Kavanagh is not on the prescribed course for examination in 2001, he may be included in courses for any subsequent years.

Top
Share