A WATERFORD man is hoping to set a record today when he receives the results of the 30 subjects he sat in this year’s Leaving Cert.
Eoin Jackson (35) took on the massive challenge to help raise funds for the education project he helps to run for early school-leavers.
He hopes to have passed some 25 of the 30 papers – two-thirds of which he sat at higher level.
The list of subjects, including self-taught ancient biblical Hebrew studies, was: English, Irish (ordinary), French (o), German (o), Spanish (o), Italian (o), Russian (o), Japanese (o), Swedish (o), Maths, Applied Maths, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Agricultural Science, Home Economics, Economics, Business Studies, Accounting, Religion, Classical Studies, History, Geography, Art, Music, Construction Studies, Engineering, Design Communication Graphics, and Technology.
He is not confident of passing the Hebrew studies, but believes if he’d had “one more day” to brush up, he would have been successful. Mr Jackson said he was looking forward to collecting his results this morning.
He will also collect the results for his 80 Leaving Cert students.
Mr Jackson teaches at the XLc Project, a family-run school established by his mother, ex-nun Nuala Jackson, in 1998.
He took on the daunting task of doing 30 exams last June as a “personal challenge” and as a way of attracting support and attention for the school.“When I said it to my family, my mother particularly said it was a really bad idea and that it was ridiculous.”
Nevertheless, the teacher said he believed he would pass 25 of the 30 exams. “Possibly more, but I’d be happy with 25.”
To date, the XLc Project has put about 700 early school-leavers from the southeast and other parts of the country through the Leaving Cert and Junior Cert exams.
This year, some 80 students sat the Leaving Cert and a further 20 took Junior Cert exams.
Mr Jackson claims the teaching methods used by the project are unique.
“They are based around mutual respect. The most telling endorsement of the project lies in the outcomes,” he said.
Each year the small semi-voluntary staff puts an average of 70 students through the State exams, and the pass rate stands at between 86 per cent and 97 per cent annually. “These figures tend to astound teachers who have dealt with the students in their former schools, and who would not have considered that student capable of passing a Leaving Cert,” Mr Jackson said.
Mr Jackson said the project “unfortunately” falls between stools at a bureaucratic level and that it has not received mainstream funding from the Department of Education.
He said former minister for education Mary Hanafin had visited the project some years ago and appeared impressed with its achievements. Her department subsequently declined to provide funding, however, because of the level of funding already available to education in the Waterford area.
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