Yesterday's Junior Cert papers provoked mixed reactions. While some teachers praised the papers and students were generally pleased, the Association of Teachers of Home Economics (ATHE) had a number of criticisms. These, said the association's president Ms Maureen Wilson, will be relayed shortly to the Department of Education and Science, once the ATHE's report is completed.
Section B of the higher-level paper failed to reflect the syllabus, Ms Wilson reported. "I have particular concerns about some of the questions which I felt were confusing because of the way they were worded," she said. The diagrams on both papers were unclear and made answering the questions difficult.
Ms Margaret McCluskey, ASTI convenor, was happy with the paper and gave particular praise to the question asking students to design a household article. Ms Wilson, meanwhile, questioned the relevance of some of the questions to the everyday experiences of children sitting the exam. Question 1 in section B, for example, concerned rice cakes. How many students, she asked, would be familiar with this product.