Teen Times:In a recent survey it was reported that the Institute in Dublin was by far the top feeder school for Trinity College, with more than 130 students choosing to attend. The next top feeder school had just over 30 students contributing to Trinity's new students.
Leaving aside the issue of university preference of students in certain regions, there is still a staggering difference in figures.
The huge margin between the Institute, a fee-paying grind school where a lot of students are sitting the Leaving Certificate for the second time, and another school begs to question whether the race for points is a fair one.
Repeat students definitely have an advantage over those who are sitting the exam for the first time but the question is whether or not this advantage is fair or warranted?
After all, they have put in an extra year's work and studied incredibly hard to achieve the maximum number of points possible. Surely they deserve this second-time-around advantage. Or do they?
Due to the nature of the current Leaving Cert, it really is a competition. Therefore when you give one group an advantage you are immediately leaving another group at a disadvantage. The opportunity of dropping one or even all of the core subjects of English, Irish and Maths means that the field becomes seriously un-level as students pick up "point gainer" subjects such as Agricultural Science or Classical Studies. If a student is particularly weak at Irish, English or Maths it is possible to drop the subject after they have passed it the first time around.
This understandably means that they don't have to deal with the burden of a subject which they find particularly difficult and may even pick up a different subject which they find significantly easier.
Where the problem lies is when you have students who are just as weak at a compulsory subject coming in second to those who chose to drop the subject for an easier choice. It is simply not fair to give a certain group of students an advantage as big as this over the rest of the competition.
The reality is that not everyone can afford to repeat their Leaving Cert in a fee-paying grind school. Our education is supposed to be free in this country but when you have to pay €5,000 or €6,000 to secure your college place, then how free is it?
There are many solutions to this problem. As opposed to taking repeat Leaving Cert students out of the race altogether, I think that we should instead add an extra "weight to their saddles".
We should compensate first-timers by making universities hold preference for them over repeat students. Or else, limit the number of core subjects that a student can drop. Another option is to give an automatic deduction of points to repeat Leaving Cert students so as to level the playing field.
There are plenty of solutions out there - it's just a case of implementing one of them!
Sarah Long (16) is in fourth year at Rockwell College, Co Tipperary
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