It's D-day today for almost 69,000 Junior Certificate students. Their results arrive at schools around the State this morning. The results show a considerable improvement in maths performance, with just over 14 per cent of students getting an A grade in higher-level papers, compared with 8 per cent last year.
But the percentage of A grades at higher level fell in Irish, English, history, French and German, compared with last year, while the proportion of higher-level students getting A grades rose for geography, business studies and science.
The percentage of students gaining A grades varies significantly from subject to subject - this year 11.3 per cent of higher-level Irish students obtained an A, compared with 5 per cent of English students and 14.3 per cent of maths students. But the proportion of students who failed Irish rose for all three levels - higher, ordinary and foundation.
Minority subjects, such as Latin, Hebrew, Greek and classical studies, usually throw up a higher proportion of A grades, while the more practical subjects tend to register more moderate percentages of A grades at higher levels and this has been the case again this year.
Over one third of students taking minority languages obtained an A grade, whereas 6.4 per cent of metalwork students gained an A - 2.6 per cent fewer than last year; 8.9 per cent of materials technology students gained an A at higher level, while 7.2 per cent of home economics students received A grades at higher level, and 8.6 per cent of technology students got As.
The Teachers' Union of Ireland yesterday called on the Department of Education to consider releasing the Junior Cert results earlier in future in view of the wider range of senior-cycle programmes from which students could choose.
Tonight is a night for celebration for the students who received their results today and many clubs, discos and other establishments are organising functions. But Mr John Whyte, a spokesman for the National Parents' Council - Post Primary, warns: "In most cases, they are not putting these on for the students to celebrate or to mourn. They are doing it as a financial venture. Parents need to realise that students are going to get alcohol.
He says more than half the young people will not come home tonight. They will be staying with a friend. "It is very important to make a phone call and check that they are going there and that a parent is present," says Mr Whyte.
He cautions that if mothers do not want to become grandmothers prematurely they should be aware that while students do not set out with this in mind, alcohol could have a serious effect on their judgment tonight.
"This is the first year when alcopops are widely available. They have a very high alcohol content and are palatable to that young age. With the excitement, students may drink quite a lot of liquid before they realise what they are doing," he says.
Mr Sean Mitchell, president of the NPCPP, said unlicensed discos can have direct access into the bar. "What looks like a teen disco with no drink available can be anything but," he says. "You just have to stick your nose in and check. The bottom line is that it's the parents' responsibility to know where they are going and to check it out."
But in a plea to allow the party to go on, the National Youth Council of Ireland is asking schools and parents to organise celebrations without alcohol. "For most young people the exam results will mark one of the most significant periods in their life to date," says Mr Peter Byrne, director of the council.