LEAVING CERT HISTORY:THE SUNNINGDALE Agreement was a welcome sight on the yesterday's higher level Leaving Certificate history paper.
The 1973 agreement led to the establishment of Northern Ireland’s first powersharing executive, which collapsed a year later.
“I was expecting Sunningdale to come up, and so were many students,” said Tom Forrestal of Rosses Community School, Dunloe. “The Irish section was very favourable, especially if you knew your case studies.”
This year’s section on the USA was considered challenging, however.
Since the history syllabus was reviewed in 2006, students have a compulsory section which changes every two years. This year’s focus was on American politics and culture.
“Questions on Lyndon Johnson and the boom of the 1950s would have put some students to the test,” said Mr Forrestal. The section also featured a question on the moon landing.
The 2006 review broadened the emphasis of the syllabus to include more material on society and culture rather than politics, leadership and military history.
There are now more women featured on the course. Yesterday’s exam included references to South African author and political activist Nadine Gordimer and Mother Mary Aikenhead, founder of the Sisters of Charity.
The new syllabus also tasks students with interpreting and evaluating historical documents.
About 12,000 took the paper this year, with about three-quarters sitting the higher level exam. Almost 70 per cent of higher level students were awarded an honour last year, with 13 per cent of students securing an A grade.
Seán Delap of the Institute of Education in Dublin praised the paper.
“The document study element of the higher and ordinary papers featured the Sunningdale Agreement, which was hoped for by many students. The related questions were very straightforward,” he said.
“The essay questions on the paper were good, allowing students plenty of scope to present their knowledge. Most students welcomed the question on one of the more popular sections of the course, Dictatorship and Democracy.”
This section featured questions on Josef Stalin, Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini.
“Students who have done the work will get rewarded. This was a fair and reasonable paper,” said Mr Delap.
The ordinary level paper continued the pattern of recent years, according to commentators.
“This was a balanced and reasonable examination of candidates’ knowledge and ability at this level,” said Mr Delap.
The ordinary level paper featured a number of documents including an extract from a letter written by the Irish singer Count John McCormack to the Archbishop of Dublin before the Eucharistic Congress of 1932.
There were also questions on Charles Darwin and on the impact of television on Irish life.
