The Leaving Cert needs to change.
There is less than a week to go until the dreaded Leaving Certificate begins for thousands of 6th-year students around the country and this exam period can be a very stressful time for those involved.
Even people who have been years out of school will find that their old nightmares of, forgetting to study for a subject they don’t even take but now have an exam in, will re-appear back into the brain.
Irish entrepreneur, Harry McCann, is one of those thousands that will flip open English paper one on June 7. McCann is founder and director of Digital Youth Council (DYC).
The Kildare native founded his first business at the age of 15 – Kid Tech, which ran training courses and holiday camps teaching coding and technology to young children.
Through this, he realised the importance of STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) education and over the space of sixteen months, he went on to teach over 800 kids to code all around Ireland.
DYC was then created to provide a platform for some of Ireland’s leading young STEM advocates, to work with the Irish government in delivering programmes, creating opportunities and ensuring that young people have a say in their future.
Since 2013, he has been working with the Government and industry to make sure young people are influencing the future of the STEM sector in Ireland and Europe.
McCann was then named in the Independent’s most 30 influential people under the age of 30 but despite all this, McCann is facing his biggest task to date, his Leaving Cert.
He has penned a letter on Twitter which is aimed to grab the attention of the Minister for Education, Richard Bruton, who is tagged in the tweet as well as potential Fine Gael leader, Simon Coveney.
McCann’s relationship with the Government may just mean that his letter might not go unnoticed.
I'm not writing about this as an expert on Education, or even as a journalist, I'm writing this as an 18 y/o Leaving Cert student! #Ed pic.twitter.com/4Ypa5Wi3aX
— Harry McCann (@TheHarryMcC) May 31, 2017
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