
Four schools in the West are among the 80 schools nationally that will be the first to study PE as a Leaving Cert subject.
The Education Minister Richard Bruton has published a list of 80 schools that will partake in the first phase of the implementation of the new Physical Education for Senior Cycle programme.
St Mary’s Secondary school in Ballina is the only Mayo school included on the list of 80 schools, along with Abbey Community College in Boyle, Co Roscommon and two schools in Co Galway – Gort Community School and the Dominican College at Taylor’s Hill in the city.
The 80 were chosen from 369 schools that had applied to participate in the roll-out of PE at senior cycle.
This announcement is part of the Government’s emphasis on encouraging healthy lifestyles, and is a key commitment in the Action Plan for Education.
Students taking the new Leaving Cert subject from September 2018 will sit the first LCPE exam in 2020 – the subject can be taken at both higher and ordinary levels.
And the new Senior Cycle PE Framework will provide a modern curriculum for teachers to teach PE to all students at senior cycle.