Education in the Republic of Ireland

Education is something that is actually determines the quality of our live, for example your job usually depends on education that you got. And even if you have the same job as someone who is better educated, usually his salary will be better than yours.

The quality and the system of education systems in various countries differ a lot, it is different in Great Britain, in the USA, and it is different in our country, too. Today, I would like to focus on the system of education in the Republic of Ireland, because I had a change to experience it, I will mention the main differences from the Czech education system and in the end, I would like to say something about my plans for the future.

The Irish education system is quite similar to that of most other western countries. There are three levels of education in Ireland: primary, secondary and higher (often known as third-level or tertiary) education. Education in Ireland is free at all levels, including college (university), and this fact attracts foreign students a lot.

The Department of Education and Science, under the control of the Minister for Education and Science, is in overall control of policy, funding. The current Minister for Education is Ms Mary Hanafin.

All children in Ireland must receive compulsory education between the ages of six and fifteen years. It means that the primary education and half of the secondary education is compulsory. In both primary and secondary education it is compulsory to wear a school uniform. The idea of the school uniform is that if everyone wears the same, the differences between social classes would disappear and the child would not be for example bullied because of the social status of his family.  Usually every school has its symbol on the uniform and also in the each city the uniforms are different in colour.

Primary education

The primary school system consists of eight years: Junior and Senior Infants (corresponding to kindergarten), and then six years. Most children attend primary school between the ages of 4 and 12.

There are 3 types of primary schools in Ireland:

• National schools date back to the introduction of state primary education in the middle of the 19th century. They are controlled by the state, and both English and Irish languages are compulsory. They are very much influenced by the Church, so children pray at school every morning and there is a religion class every day.
• Gaelscoil is another type of primary school, it is a very recent innovation, was set like 20 years ago. The children are taught in Irish, these schools were formed to restore the knowledge of the Irish language. Usually they are under the patronage of a voluntary organisation. There is at least one Gaelscoil in every county in whole Ireland.
• Multidenominational schools are another recent innovation. They try to be multicultural and open to every religion (as you can find out that the Irish are not very tolerant of other religions then Christianity). But there are not many these schools.

Secondary education

Most children attend secondary education between the ages of 12 to 18. After the Junior Cycle an exam is taken, it is called the Junior Certificate and after the Senior Cycle there is a Leaving Certificate exam, which is an Irish equivalent to our graduation exam. Secondary schools are usually sex-separated, actually in the whole Republic of Ireland, there are only three secondary schools, where boys and girls can study together. I think that it is due to the strong role of religion in Ireland, because nearly 95 percent of inhabitants are Christians.

• The Junior Cycle ends with the Junior Certificate Examination. The Junior Certificate Examination is taken after three years of study and not before fourteen years of age.  It is the end of compulsory school attendance, but the majority of students continue to study.
• The Transition Year is a special one-year course. The content of this year usually depends on individual school, because the aim of this year is to place the children in some work opportunities. This is due to the fact that they can experience something they would like to do in their future life, for example, they can work in the hospital as an administrative assistant, or they can work in a shop… The Department of Education launched this special year not only to provide children with a good experience in working process, but also, it is said, that if they experience the real job when they are 15 years old, they will decide to continue studying as long as they can. Because still they can decide to leave school, because they finished the compulsory education with the Junior Certificate exam.
• The Senior Cycle builds on the junior cycle and finishes with the Leaving Certificate Examination. The Leaving Certificate Examination is taken after at least two years of study after the Junior Certificate Examination. The Senior Cycle is different to the previous education, because students can organise their time and they can choose only 6 subjects to attend, and later on they pass the Leaving Certificate in these six subjects. And these subjects can be higher or ordinary level. This is on one hand very good, because students are well prepared for the Leaving certificate exam, and they don’t have to study „useless subjects“, but on the other hand, the don’t have general knowledge in many fields.

The Leaving Certificate isn’t oral but it is a written exam. And the exam is levelled, because you can choose higher or ordinary subjects. This is in my opinion a very good system, because for example our graduation exam is not levelled so electricians or cooks have the same level of the graduation exam as students from the high school have. In Ireland it all depends on the fact if you want to enter the university or not. To enter a particular programme at the university, you have to take two highers and of course you have to get enough point in you Leaving Certificate. And the points are different if you graduate from higher or ordinary level. Compulsory subjects are Irish, English and Maths and you can choose another three.

(see the attachment)

Further education

The universities have the same system as in our republic,

GAELTACHT AREA

(area where the Irish language is spoken as a first language)