Sir, – The media goes into overdrive year after year during the first three weeks of June with an almost pathological obsession with the Leaving Certificate examinations.
This is an unwarranted distraction for students. Such hype and distraction by the media is likely to exacerbate stress levels not only in students but also in parents. At this time, students are under enough stress without magnifying it.
It is also quite deplorable that in this country, when the Leaving Certificate results are published, pride of place is given to the tiny percentage of students who score the maximum number of points – not a word about the majority who get an average score or the students who, despite socio-economic deprivation, linguistic, behavioural and other limiting factors, struggle with the help of dedicated teachers and manage to pass the examination with hard work and perseverance and against all the odds. – Yours, etc,
PATRICK J O’BRIEN,
Moyglare Village,
Maynooth,
Co Kildare.