New Politics and Society Subject

Davitt College Castlebar Selected to Introduce

New Politics and Society Subject

 

Ms. Bernie Rowland, Principal Davitt College Castlebar, Minister for Education, Jan O'Sullivan, T.D. and Mr. Frank Kelleher, Teacher of Politics and Society, Davitt College, at the launch of the new subject in Limerick.
Ms. Bernie Rowland, Principal Davitt College Castlebar, Minister for Education, Jan O’Sullivan, T.D. and Mr. Frank Kelleher, Teacher of Politics and Society, Davitt College, at the launch of the new subject in Limerick.

A new subject has been developed for the Leaving Certificate Programme called Politics and Society. This will be an optional Leaving Certificate subject, just like other exam subjects.  It will be introduced on a phased basis, starting with a small number of schools in September 2016.  Davitt College in Castlebar is one of these schools.  Students will sit the first Leaving Certificate Politics and Society examination in June 2018.

“We are delighted that our school has been selected to introduce Leaving Certificate Politics and Society from this coming September 2016,” said Ms. Bernie Rowland, Davitt College Principal. “Politics and Society is a very exciting and rewarding subject that will suit any student who is interested in human rights, equality, diversity, sustainable development, power and democratic decision-making”, she said.  It is envisaged that studying Politics and Society will give students a real insight into people, power and how society works.  The subject will be assessed at two levels, Ordinary Level and Higher Level.  There will be two assessment components at each level – a written examination which accounts for 80% of the final grade and a citizenship project which accounts for 20%.  The citizenship project enables students to research a topic of interest to them and then apply their learning in action.

“The introduction of Politics and Society in Davitt College compliments the already very wide range of subjects we offer to students in the Leaving Certificate Programme”, said Bernie Rowland. “There has been a considerable interest in the uptake of this subject already from students and a number of teachers have expressed a wish to teach Politics and Society in Davitt College”, she said.