Leaving Cert: Italian The higher-level Italian Leaving Cert was more difficult than last year, according to Ms Maura McCarthy, president of the Italian Teachers' Association.
Sixteen of the 189 students sitting the Italian exam go to Ms McCarthy's school, St Joseph's in Lucan, Co Dublin.
The reading comprehension and writing topic - a school tour - focused on the business of touring and the responsibilities of teachers, rather than the perspective of teenagers. A mature student in St Joseph's found the exam "okay", but otherwise it was "not student-friendly", Ms McCarthy said.
The literary passage on an unseen text, read by novelist Stefano Benni, was demanding. Students could also write about one of two novels they had read, Le Voci Della Sera or Marcovaldo. The questions were similar to previous years and were manageable. The aural tape was clear, although a bit too fast in places.
On the ordinary-level paper, students could not relate to the topics: a baby asleep in the back of a car when the car is stolen, a story about an elderly journalist who marries an American woman and they disappear, and an item on working from home on the Internet.
Ms Evelyn Hearns is not a TUI subject representative, as stated in yesterday's report on the Leaving Cert music paper.