Emissions and sustainability at heart of Agricultural Science Leaving Cert paper
European The Targets 2030 Production Discussing Sustainable Mission’s For Food Included By Questions
New technologies, emissions, energy, and the environment were the focus of the Leaving Cert agricultural science paper in an exam that challenged students and reflected the direction of modern farming.
The new agricultural science syllabus was examined on Monday, as Leaving Cert exams continued. The previous syllabus was first written in 1968.
“It was a fine paper, and very representative of the new course,” said Peter Keaney, subject representative with the Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland (ASTI).
“It was challenging for students without it being out of their reach. There was a lot of innovation on it, things like robotics and sustainability and the effect on the environment, and renewable energy has come into it as well.”
Some interesting questions included discussing the European Commission’s targets for sustainable food production by 2030, and the ‘smart cow’; technology to help support production on dairy farms.
Mr Kearney said this year’s higher-level paper also asked students to critically analyse data.
“There was a lot of information given to students, and students were then asked to interpret that information. I think that’s good because it leads away from ‘route learning’. You have to be able to critically analyse data and interpret it, and a student who will excel at that has a greater understanding of modern agriculture.”
The ordinary level paper was "straightforward" and suited the level of the exam, he added.
"Again, plenty of choice."
Technology was very much to the fore of this year’s paper, according to Seamus Hynes, subject representative with the Teachers’ Union of Ireland (TUI).
“Overall, there were a lot of current issues reflected, particularly in the introduction to the questions,” he said.
The paper included plenty of initiatives, like the Beef Environmental Efficiency Programme (BEEP), that children who grew up on farms would be familiar with, with questions then progressing into calculations and “more testing specifics.”
The specified experiments played a part in the questions on both the higher level paper and the ordinary level paper, he added.
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