New and improved Junior Cycle by Sryan Bruen

To start off, I would like to say that I would keep the basis of the education system the same so like primary education would still be a thing, Junior Cycle would still be a thing and so on. I don't think they should change even though students might think so.

What I would like to change is how Secondary Education works because let's be honest, Secondary Education in Ireland is absolutely horrible how it works.

So like I said, I would like to have Secondary Education to be in the same format as it is now (Junior Cycle-Transition Year-Senior Cycle) but I would like to change a lot of things about it.

Let's talk about the Junior Cycle in this thread. The Junior Cycle is a very controversial thing among the majority of students and is widely hated for good reasons.

For both cycles, I would like all subjects to be optional bar English and Home Economics. So Maths and Irish will not be mandatory nor will Geography, History or Science etc at JC level in some schools. Maths should not be mandatory because in primary school, you were already taught the basic Maths you need to know for life. All the Maths you learn in secondary school is very useless to many people thus why it should not be mandatory. Irish would not be mandatory for obvious reasons I don't think I have to state. English will stay mandatory because it's a mandatory subject in the majority of countries and it improves your comprehension of the language so I think it should stay as a mandatory subject BUT with some changes as the current syllabus can be very difficult to those with a lack of imagination in particular. Home Economics should become a mandatory subject in my opinion. Many young people would not be in support of this, especially boys including myself. I would not like to do Home Economics but I can't deny the importance of it. Home Economics teaches you basic life skills you should know but don't due to the way the education system is. Home Economics is a must subject and thus why I think it should be mandatory.

Junior Cert or Junior Cycle examinations would still take place in June of 3rd year BUT the exams will all be marked different and the syllabus of each subject will be reformed. The idea of this reformation of the subjects' syllabuses is to give the student a breath of fresh air in secondary school i.e. to not get stressed out because of examinations.

Examinations will be based on only what the student has learned in Junior Cycle. If the student shows a good enough knowledge of the subject, he will pass but if he does not, he will fail. Questions on the paper are there as a guide instead of being answered. Like I said, you will only be marked on what you know and questions are just there as a guide in case you are stuck of what to write on in the subject.

Each subject except Maths will have some sort of practical or continuous assessment. These are some of the Junior Cycle result markings I had in mind:



**English Optional Composition would be done during 2nd or 3rd year, not on the exam day.

I will update soon. I will also tell you the layout of the exam papers.