The "shock exclusion'' of poet Eavan Boland from today's higher level Leaving Cert English paper has created difficulties for many students, teachers said.
In English Paper 2, students are given questions on four of the eight poets on the course. Boland was regarded by students and many teachers as a "banker'' but she did not appear on the paper which featured Yeats (as expected) Adrienne Rich, Patrick Kavanagh and T.S. Eliot.
Today's event's will renew controversy about the English exam. On RTE radio's Drivetime with Philip Boucher -Hayes, one prominent teacher said it was time to end the guessing game surrounding the English exam.
Niall McMonigle, a teacher at Wesley College, Dublin, called on Minister for Education, Mary Coughlan to change the format of the course. The exam , he said, should feature all eight poets on the course – with students allowed to select their favourite four.
In another shock for students, a much anticipated question on the character of the fool in King Lear did not appear.
However, teachers described the paper as intelligent and stimulating. The questions , they said, required students to engage with texts in their entirety, rather than focusing on bits.
"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 Jim Lusby of the Institute of Education.
Anyone who invested all their effort in Eavan Boland was taking "a crazy gamble", he said
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.
