Sir, - Gormlaith O Corrain (October 28th) seems ill informed about the current situation regarding the award of bonus marks for subjects answered through Irish in the Leaving Certificate.
Firstly, she suggests that all subjects qualify for a bonus. This, of course, is not accurate. Two subjects compulsory for those who wish to fulfil the National University of Ireland matriculation requirements, i.e. English and Irish, do not qualify for bonus marks for obvious reasons.
Secondly, Ms O Corrain will be relieved to learn that the different degrees of linguistic proficiency required in, for example, Mathematics and History are reflected in the calculation of bonuses, as subjects are divided into two separate categories. According to the Department of Education's Rules & Programme for Secondary Schools: "Bonus marks at the rate of 10 per cent of the marks obtained will be given to a candidate who obtains less than 75 per cent of the total marks in the case of the following subjects: Latin, Greek, Classical Studies, Hebrew Studies, History . . ." The Rules then state that: "Bonus marks at the rate of 5 per cent will be given to a candidate who obtains less than 75 per cent of the total mark in the case of the following subjects: French, German, Italian, Spanish, Mathematics, Applied Mathematics . . ."
Thirdly, it is not true that "the first digit of each subject is added to the second digit to arrive at a result", and the example whereby a score of 82 is increased by 8 to arrive at 90 is an impossibility. The Rules state that: "Above 75 per cent the bonus will be subjected to a uniform reduction until the candidate who scores 100 per cent gets no bonus."
Extra marks thus obtained seem to me to be a just reward for students who, handicapped by a paucity of suitable textbooks, are obliged to acquire translation skills in addition to a knowledge of the subject.
Finally, to suggest that students from all-Irish schools who achieve high marks in the Leaving Certificate do so because of a distortion of examination results amounts merely to begrudgery. - Yours, etc., Padraigin Riggs,
Central Avenue, Bishopstown, Cork.
P.S. I thoroughly agree with the writer that "bad or illiterate" Irish should be penalised - as should "bad or illiterate" English! Her own articulate and elegantly constructed letter is a credit to a Leaving Cert student.