Education in Ireland

Ireland’s school system is similar to ours. Ireland has three levels of education they are primary, secondary, and higher (often known as "third-level") education. Irish students usually study six to eight subjects but English, Math, Irish Language, History, Physics, and Geography are required to graduate and for your final year in Ireland you must write a play, produce a magazine, or work for a charity. Irish students also participate in sports and some write the school newspaper after school just like the school systems in America do. However in America not all schools are required to wear uniforms but in Ireland the boy students must wear a uniform that has polo-shirts along with suit jackets and a tie. The girls also wear a school jacket and skirts that usually come to the knees however some schools in Ireland require the girls to wear floor length skirts. Another big difference between Ireland and America schools is lunch. They are both about forty five minutes long but in Ireland they serve healthy and junk food, America only serves healthy food. One thing that is the same is the length of the school days they are both about seven hours long but school in Ireland starts at 9:00 a.m. and ends at 4:00 p.m. ours starts an hour earlier. The typical day for an Irish high school student starts at 8:30 a.m. that’s when the walk or ride the bus to school at 9:00 a.m. they head to your “seomra ranga,” your permanent classroom where you will have most of your lessons, for your first class of the day at 9:40 a.m. Your first class is over. Now you go to your second class then at 11:45 a.m. the students head to lunch. At 12:30 p.m. they head back to their classrooms to study something new then at 1:15 p.m. students play sports such as Gaelic football, Hurling (for boys), Camogie (for girls), Rugby, Football, and Rowing at 2:30 p.m. they go back to the classroom to study something else finally at 4:00 p.m. the day is over so they go to hang out with friends or do some homework. That’s the way Irish and American schools are the same and different.