Add in the mixed reception for the €9m scheme to introduce pouches for mobile phone storage in our schools and that adds up to quite a run of contentious reports on various aspects of our education system.

This week, then, we learned of proposals being discussed by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) to change the format of the Leaving Certificate exams. 

Those proposals include the possibility of reducing the English examination from two separate papers to one, and adding a project to be done in fifth year which would be worth 40% of the student’s total mark.

If adopted, those changes would come on stream in the next two to three years. 

Teaching unions have already expressed their unhappiness with these and other curriculum changes on the basis that more time is needed for consultation.

The traditional argument against the Leaving Certificate is that it favours rote learning rather than truly testing a student’s knowledge. 

However, past experience of project work being part of a student’s final grade suggests that that approach has its own inbuilt flaws.

The project option is one that favours the well-resourced student, one whose parents may be able to intervene on their child’s behalf and either help with or create the project itself. 

For all its faults, the Leaving Certificate is a relatively level playing field for all those who take the exams.

The need to revamp the English papers should also be seen in the context of marking. 

In 2019, 3% of students who sat the higher-level paper in English achieved a H1, the highest mark, but this year 6.9% of students got a H1.

Resolving the ongoing issue of grade inflation may be a far more urgent challenge than introducing projects for fifth year.

Musk in cabinet: Trump has a new favourite

As was widely predicted, X owner Elon Musk has been appointed to Donald Trump’s cabinet. 

The billionaire, who was one of Trump’s most visible supporters in the recent presidential campaign, will lead the newly created department of government efficiency, along with former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy.

The reaction has ranged from gallows humour — many have pointed out the contradiction in appointing two leaders of an organisation dedicated to efficiency, rather than just one — to suspicion: What is the significance of a new office whose initials, DOGE, are reminiscent of the cryptocurrency dogecoin, often linked with Mr Musk?

The new office is expected to advise on how “to dismantle government bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure federal agencies”, in Trump’s own words.

How that will work in reality is not yet clear, but when Musk took over Twitter he sacked thousands of its workers before renaming it X, and in the past he has advocated eliminating hundreds of federal agencies in the US and called for $2tn in cuts to US federal spending.

It is worth pointing out that there seems to be no acknowledgement here of an apparent conflict of interest on Musk’s part. 

In the last year alone, his companies had approximately $3bn (€2.84bn) in almost 100 contracts with 17 US federal agencies, yet now he is to advise on which federal agencies should be abolished.

In addition, while his mass sackings in X caught the headlines when they occurred, less attention has been paid to that company’s performance under his stewardship. 

It has been estimated that X is now worth almost 79% less than when he bought the company just over two years ago.

Perhaps profit and loss are the wrong terms to use when viewing Musk’s plans. 

If the goal was to achieve the power to implement his beliefs he seems to have succeeded, but he would do well to remember the experience of people like Steve Bannon, a one-time Trump ally now long since discarded. 

There is a high turnover of favourites in the court of the incoming president.

Water safety: Danger at sea

The recent drownings in Galway bring home to all how dangerous the sea can be, and the need to take care even when in familiar waters.

There was a time when eyebrows would have been raised at anyone entering the ocean in November, but now wetsuits and the vogue for wild swimming and watersports generally combine to make the sea a year-round amenity — all of which makes safety precautions even more necessary.

Limerick native Duhan enjoyed a long career in the Irish music scene going back to the band Granny’s Intentions, while many readers will probably be familiar with his most song, ‘The Voyage’, covered to good effect by Christy Moore in particular.

The song’s heartfelt lyrics meant it was featured on the playlists at innumerable weddings over the years here in Ireland and abroad. 

The writer’s passing now adds another layer of emotion to future renditions.