LEAVING CERT ENGLISH PAPER 2:THE "SHOCK exclusion" of Eavan Boland from yesterday's English exam stunned students, as well as punters who took a gamble on Paddy Power's favoured line-up for the higher paper.

“Anyone who invested all their effort in Eavan Boland took a crazy gamble,” said Jim Lusby of the Institute of Education in Dublin.

The entry of a bookmaker into the poetry roulette will add fuel to the debate about the format of English Paper 2.

Yesterday Niall McMonagle, a teacher at Wesley College, called on Minister for Education Mary Coughlan to change the format of the course and put an end the “guessing game” for students. Speaking on RTÉ radio’s Drivetime he said the exam should feature all eight poets on the course with students allowed to select their favourite four.

The paper featured Yeats, Adrienne Rich, Patrick Kavanagh and TS Eliot.

While many students were disappointed, teachers have welcomed the paper, describing it as “stimulating and intelligent”

“Normally I find problems with this exam but this year I thought the paper was intelligently phrased and invited students to look afresh at the material they have been studying,” said Mr Lusby.

Shiela Parsons of the ASTI felt that the paper was very straightforward and contained no tricks for students.

“The unseen poem, Seed by Paula Meehan, was a welcome inclusion,” she said. “It’s very accessible yet offers enough depth for students to use their critical skills.”

Ms Parsons also welcomed the selection of questions on the poetry section. While she acknowledged the surprising omission of Eavan Boland, she said that many students would also have prepared Yeats and Rich, both of whom were nicely handled.

“The Kavanagh question was the only one with a sting in it,” said Ms Parsons. “The question was stated in a rather restricted way that could have limited students’ ability to manipulate their learning.”

Last year’s English Paper 2 at higher level was rescheduled for a Saturday after a superintendent in Drogheda, Co Louth distributed the wrong paper.

To date, the State Exams Commission has reported no security blunders in this year’s exam.

About 30 per cent of students took English at ordinary level yesterday.

The paper was reasonably well received, but there were some concerns about the inclusion of a Vernon Scannell poem called Nettles.

The poem is voiced by the father of a young boy who has fallen into a bed of nettles. The boy’s father slashes the bed only to find that, two weeks later, the “fierce parade” had returned. Students were asked to analyse the closing line: “My son would often feel sharp wounds again.”

“This was difficult for a firsttime reading at this level,” said Ms Parsons. “The questions were more learned than you would expect for this level. There is no foundation level English so there is a wide variety of ability taking ordinary.”

However, she described the inclusion of the poem For Heidi, with the Blue Hair as a “godsend”.