The Union of Students in Ireland has called for an end to what it calls discrimination against students doing the Leaving Certificate Vocational Programme (LCVP).
According to USI, universities and the Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT) award lower points for LCVP "link modules" than the institutes of technology, despite recommendations from the Department of Education and the Commission on the Points System which urged equal recognition from all institutions. The link modules are projects done by LCVP students during the year which substitute for one of their six subjects in their submissions to the Central Applications Office (CAO).
The president of USI, Mr Richard Hammond, said that of the 59,499 students who got their Leaving Certificate results last week, 12,354, or 21 per cent, completed the Leaving Cert vocational programme. "This is a dramatic increase on the figures from just four years ago, when just 2,300 undertook the LCVP.
"However, despite the success of the programme, the universities and the Dublin Institute of Technology continue to undervalue the LCVP link modules for the purposes of college-entry points," he said.
"The universities and DIT give 50 points for a distinction, 40 for merit and 30 for a pass. The institutes of technology give 70 for a distinction, 50 for a merit and 30 for a pass. This is unashamed discrimination against one in five students," he added.
Mr Colm Jordan, education officer with USI, said similar discrimination operated against students who did a Post-Leaving Certificate (PLC) course. These students left their PLC course with a National Council for Vocational Awards (NCVA) qualification. However, the Dublin Institute of Technology and the universities did not accept NCVA qualifications.
Meanwhile, An Bord Altranais noted the high number of applications for nursing places this year. It is the first time that entry to nursing has been administered by the CAO. Choices were offered in general, psychiatric and mental handicap nursing.
There were over 6,000 applicants for a total of 1,550 places in nursing.
Mr Eugene Donoghue, chief executive officer of An Bord Altranais, said: " A career in nursing continues to be a popular choice for school-leavers."