AS part of the new curriculum, Junior Cert students are set to receive awards based on their involvement in interests outside school hours.
Students of the 2017 class who undertook the Junior Cert are set to be the first teenagers to receive awards based on curricular activities.
While students are still required to undertake written exams, other bodies of work including projects, assessments in class among other things are to count as achievements under the rejuvenated Junior Cert scheme.
According to The Irish Times, students involved in activities outside school such as musical performance, and involvement in student council and events such as the BT Young Scientist will be given recognition also.
The new awards were presented to students in Grange College in Co. Dublin by Minister for Education Richard Bruton.
Bruton welcomed the reform, which is set to recognise a wider skillset from Irish young people as opposed to stoic expectations of rigid exams: "The reforms put the student’s wellbeing and their individual potential at the heart of the learning process, ensuring a holistic education and recognition for non-academic achievements."
The Minister said the rollout of the new initiative would encourage future students: "I look forward to the continued roll-out of junior cycle [reform] and to students benefiting from this broader form of assessment."
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