EDUCATION: Computer Science as an actual Leaving Certificate – begins in SEVEN Cork Schools in 2018

5 January 2018
By Bryan Smyth
bryan@TheCork.ie

Minister for Education and Skills Richard Bruton TD today announced that 40 post primary schools around the country will start studying Leaving Certificate Computer Science from this September and will be the first to sit an exam in the subject in 2020.

Computer Science for Leaving Certificate focuses on how programming and computational thinking can be applied to the solution of problems, and how computing technology impacts the world around us. The introduction of Computer Science as a subject is part of the Government’s overall commitment to embed digital technology in teaching and learning.

Simon Coveney TD, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Photo Billy macGill.

Welcoming the announcement, An Tanaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney TD said, “I am delighted to see that a number of schools across Cork city and county will benefit from this initial roll out of Computer Science for Leaving Cert.  This is a hugely positive move for the education system in Ireland and will continue to increase the numbers of students taking up computing and STEM course at a university level and continue to showcase Ireland’s highly skilled workforce. Our education system must prepare our children to thrive in such an environment by equipping them with skills in creativity, adaptability and problem solving”.

Under the curriculum students will learn:

• Computational thinking

• How to analyse problems in computational terms

• Programming languages and how to read, write, test and modify computer programs

• Creative design

• Design computational artefacts such as web pages, digital animations, simulations, games, apps and robotic systems

• The ethical, historical, environmental and technological aspects of Computer Science, and how it impacts the social and economic development of society.

The list of the Cork Schools participating are: