SOME questions on the Junior Cert higher level history paper were greeted with dissatisfaction and worry by both students and teachers yesterday. Mr John O'Sullivan, a history teacher at Templeogue College, Dublin, and ASTI subject representative, said yesterday that a number of teachers had contacted him to voice their concern about the paper, which he said was "certainly very difficult and unfair."
Mr Gus Kelleher, a history teacher at St Colman's College in Fermoy, Co Cork, pointed to question 1 (b) on the Wright brother's flight in 1903 as being very difficult where "a knowledge of physics, and not history, is required," he said. Students were asked in this question to identify parts of the aeroplane and to explain how the plane accelerated for takeoff. "Although there are only small marks for the answers, difficult questions like that could upset students," he said.
Mr O'Sullivan described the "the Plantations in Ireland" question as "not valid" as teachers are required to pick only one plantation and cover it in great detail. In the exam yesterday students were asked only about the Cromwellian Plantation. "Only a minority of students will have done it in detail," he said. "Many teachers were unhappy that the question was so specific."
The language in both documents 1 and 2 was "convoluted and difficult," said Mr O'Sullivan. Students sitting the ordinary level were also asked questions on the same set of documents and he said that a different set of documents, more sympathetic to students at this level, should be used in the ordinary level exam.
He described question 4, part (a) on the higher level as "lovely and very nice" but, he said, the second part was again "not valid" as optional parts of the course were included, which limited the choice for students who would not have covered certain sections.
Mr Kelleher was also disappointed that the Irish Famine did not feature in the paper. "To ignore something as vital as that is missing the whole point of history," he felt.