Education Minister Ruairi Quinn has confirmed he is looking at making changes to the Leaving Certificate to give more points to students who take a science subject.

Speaking at the MacGill Summer School, he told reporters he is looking to review the procedures in order to better reflect the efforts pupils put into more challenging courses.

He stated the way in which points are currently awarded leads people to choose what are seen as softer subjects.

"We have made some subjects easier to study and yet you get the same number of points for them that you get for science or for mathematics or for different technologies. You have to rebalance that," the Irish Examiner reported the minister as saying.

Mr Quinn confirmed that making certain courses more valuable is one solution he is looking at in order to improve the system.

This year, 55,550 candidates sat Leaving Certificate exams, with the results set to be announced on August 17th.

Written by Donal Walsh
 

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