Trudging through the muddy trenches, fumbling frantically, being baffled by fog. A familiar mental feeling for any student, but especially those being forced to struggle through studying subjects they hate.
As I’m in my final year of secondary school I find myself in a constant state of tiredness. As a thespian and a creative person in general, the mainstream school system is not catered to me at all, but specifically in Ireland. Having lived overseas and gone to a British school, the wider array of subject choices available, especially when it comes to A Levels, entices me! I can only imagine my joy if instead of having to power through maths equations and Spanish comprehensions, I could focus all of my energy on what I love.
The Leaving Certificate is extremely limiting in it’s subject choices, though it does produce a more rounded student with a good base as we’re required to take English, Maths and Irish (or not if you’re exempt like me! Thank god for being a Third Culture Kid), many feel suffocated by the lack of expanded choice when moving up from Junior Cycle. We’ve just seen the introduction of P.E, which is a great improvement that I wish had been introduced for my year, however, this is not enough.
I understand that there are two sides to this argument, there are those at 16 who are mature enough to make choices about their future and are ready to study specific areas, while there are also many who are completely uncertain, still, come Leaving Cert results day. However, I feel that there should be options for those who want to continue their education but would prefer to do more specific subjects such as photography or computer science.
For example, I currently do 6 subjects; Maths, English, Spanish, History, Art and Music. None of which have a direct correlation to what I want to do in the future, but it’s as good as it gets. If I was doing A Levels I could do Drama & Theatre, Dance, and Film. That sounds ideal, as I do so much outside of school anyways in those areas and that’s what I care about! However, someone’s choices don’t need to be that specific, you could choose Ancient History, Business, French and ICT.
My point is, the current school system in Ireland doesn’t support the education of many, not just creatives, but people with specific interests, or just a lack of interest in what is offered or required.
What are the effects of this? Personally, it just makes me feel very drained. As I don’t care extensively about anything I’m studying in school, every single task I do feels like an absolute challenge, and I lack any motivation to do more than required. However, I’m a good student, always have been, and I still put myself under this immense pressure to do well in all my subjects though I don’t technically need the grades for the future because as I know I can do well, I want to do well. I spend all my free time trying to get school work done to a decent standard, and thus, sometimes my other work for drama etc. doesn’t get done or gets pushed aside, which makes no sense, as that’s my goal. I obviously realise that it’s up to me to make that choice about what I prioritise, but it’s so hard to rewire yourself after years of trying not to piss off teachers and being an overachiever! Everything we’re taught is that school has to come first. So many Leaving Cert students drop out of sports and extracurriculars completely to focus on school! Which is ridiculous, because studying and school shouldn’t take away from your health, mental or physical.
Also, many people drop out of courses when they reach university level, or else power through, out of guilt or feeling like they need to, because they dislike the subjects included in the course they chose. For example, I know someone who did an Arts degree, that included psychology amongst other subjects, who dropped out in their first term because they didn’t like the subjects, which could have easily been avoided if they already knew they disliked these subjects from experiencing them in secondary school, or from at least witnessing others doing it.
Basically, the Irish education system is broken (don’t even get me started on the points race!) and we need to fix it. I know measures are being taken towards assessing the current education system, but I’m not sure if those steps are in the right direction, and if they are, then whether they’re happening fast enough. For the mental health of every student in this country, we deserve better.
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Lots of love,
