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Testing time for Northside’s Golden Girls

Thursday, 12 June 2008

WHILE thousands of teenagers nervously began their Leaving Cert and Junior Cert exams last week, six Northside women from an adult education centre joined them to sit the two English papers.
The exam was the culmination of two years’ study at KLEAR, a community based adult education centre in Kilbarrack, for the six ladies, all aged over 50.
Now bitten by the bug, some of them are hoping to continue their studies at university level.
Nova Walsh (61), from Raheny, said that while the exam went well, she was very nervous waiting for it and is glad to have it out of the way.
“At my age the nerves are incredible doing an exam like this,” stated Nova.
“I had to walk to the exam hall from Raheny just to stop myself from feeling ill.
“The whole time I kept thinking that this is how nervous Jerry from the book we were studying, ‘How Many Miles to Babylon’, must have felt when he faced the firing squad.”
Nova said she took on the exam as a personal challenge and now hopes to go on to do a pre-degree course in Poetry at Trinity College. Ultimately, she is also hoping to study English literature.
After their exam the group gathered at the Beachcomber pub in Killester for a celebration and a post-exam analysis of how the paper went.
Winnie O’Donnell singled out class tutor, Geraldine Finlay, for specific praise, having studied with her for the last four years.
Initially, Winnie completed her Junior Cert English exam with top results before going on to tackle the Leaving Cert.
“I would recommend anyone to get down to KLEAR and study with Geraldine to gain some confidence,” stated Winnie.
“We are all thrilled that we did the exam. I found it hard and I really hope I did well.
“As a 68-year-old, I had my husband, 98-year-old mother, six children and my six grandchildren all wishing me luck.
“It was a great challenge to get my brain working and see what I am really capable of; it’s a great day.”
The six women all recommend returning to education and say that age is no barrier to learning thanks to places like KLEAR and the Trinity Access Programme.
Christine McGuinness, from Sutton, advised people that there are a number of options available and that adult education is a great advantage for those with no Leaving or Junior Certs.
“Having done my Leaving Cert English exam, I am now looking into further education through initiatives like the Trinity Access Programme,” said Christine.
“If I do a Foundation degree course, I get to study eight subjects covering topics like English, Maths, Computers and Study Skills for a whole academic year before going on to apply for courses through the Central Applications Office (CAO).”
Meanwhile, KLEAR invites anyone interested in further education to drop into the centre any morning between 9.30am and 1pm during term time to see what they are about and find out if they have a course to suit.
This year, around 50,000 students are sitting the Leaving Cert with 57,000 taking the Junior Cert at 4,600 centres all over the country.
In a break from previous years, the exams had a new timetable with English exams moved to separate days due to complaints from students over the amount of work required from the combined exams.
New subjects are added to the exams every year with languages added to reflect Ireland’s new diversity of cultures.
Currently, curricular language subjects include Irish, English, Ancient Greek, Arabic, French, German, Hebrew Studies, Italian, Spanish, Russian and Japanese.
The exams will continue over the next two weeks with the Leaving Cert Applied and Junior Cert examinations ending on Thursday, June 19, while the Leaving Cert ends on Friday, June 20.
Meanwhile, the ‘KLEAR Six’ will have to wait until sometime in August to learn their fate.

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