Q: I am in my final year of an arts degree and I would love to do remedial teaching but I cannot find any course for this. I did work experience in remedial work when I was at school and I would very much like to work with such children - Cork student

A: I'm afraid it is not really possible to go into remedial teaching work without training as a mainstream teacher first. So you would really have to do a H.Dip and train as a secondary teacher - and then, once you had some teaching experience, apply for the remedial teaching diploma.

In some years, the Minister for Education authorises a one year postgraduate course for people with an arts degree like yourself or indeed other degrees - to train as national teachers. However, this is done depending on demand, and it appears there will not be a course this year.

I understand your point that what you would really like to do is teach children with teaming difficulties, but the reasoning in educational circles is that to work out as a remedial teacher you need to have mainstream teacher training first and some classroom experience.

Indeed, it is not unusual for people appointed to remedial positions in schools not to have a remedial teaching qualification at all; they are usually freed to do the remedial course later. I know it does not sound very logical, but various other specialist areas within teaching are the same.

For example, guidance counsellors are trained first as teachers and only later specialise in guidance work and take a guidance and counselling course.

Perhaps if it is really working with children who have problems that interests you, you might want to think of childcare, social work or psychology as well?

Q: My daughter is choosing her Leaving Cert subjects at the moment. I read recently that there will be no bonus marks for higher maths anymore. She is good at maths, but I wonder if, as it is a difficult subject, she might not get the points more easily in another subject? - Dublin parent

A: The only change in relation to higher maths is that UCD, which has given bonus points for this subject up to now, is to drop the bonus from 1998 onwards - the year your daughter will be sitting the Leaving. UL still has a bonus in operation, but is reviewing the situation and is also quite likely to drop it.

I would still strongly recommend that someone who likes maths and is reasonably good at the subject should take it in the Leaving. She needs maths to matriculate in most colleges - including RTCs - in any case; so if she is doing it at all, she is better off to take it at higher level, I feel.

Higher maths, with its new, shorter and more accessible syllabus, is no longer the daunting prospect it used to be. Indeed, this is precisely why UCD is dropping the bonus. A student who is reasonably good at maths should be capable of taking it at higher level.

Look at it this way: English is a subject in which it is notoriously difficult to get a high grade in the Leaving Cert - yet I doubt if you would advise your daughter to take ordinary level English. If she's doing maths at ordinary level, then she can only get ordinary level points for it, so you would need another subject to aim for the higher level points - which in a way is a waste of her time.

There has never been a higher maths bonus for Trinity, nor, in recent years, for any of the other universities or RTCs; so really the UCD change should not make that much difference - except, probably, in lowering the entry points for some of UCD's more competitive courses.

For readers sitting the Leaving this year and in 1997, it's important to realise that the UCD and UL bonus still operates in both those years. The EDIT has a separate bonus system in operation, but only for engineering; and it seems possible that this may also be reviewed.

Q: My son has had to struggle with many of his subjects, particularly English, though he does well in maths and practical subjects. The school is now suggesting that he do the Leaving Cert Applied rather than the ordinary Leaving Cert. What would be the status of this qualification with employers and colleges? - west of Ireland parent

A: The Leaving Cert Applied was piloted in a selection of schools last year and is now being made available in a wider range of schools this coming year. The idea is that it will eventually be available in most schools.

It is a very practical course with much more emphasis on applied knowledge and project work; there is continuous assessment of work and projects, and practical and oral tests in addition to written exams.

The work is more evenly spread over the two years than in the traditional Leaving Cert - in the sense that the assessments the student gets from the beginning of the two year course all count towards the final mark. So it removes the all or nothing pressure from the final exam - but it also means the student knows he has to do his best from day one because it all counts.

With regard to status, this is now an official part of the Leaving Cert programme approved by the Department of Education. I think employers are becoming familiar with it - indeed in some cases employers prefer students with this qualification as it involves so much practical experience. It is recognised for apprenticeships, for example.

On the college level, the idea of the Leaving Cert Applied is that it would qualify students for PLC courses; thus all PLCs will accept it for admission. It is not really intended for those wishing to go on to higher education, as in universities or most RTC courses - though some RTCs may recognise it for certain courses.

The idea is that it leads to a PLC and that the PLC then offers a ladder of opportunity to advance to an RTC course through the system now in operation, whereby a quota of places are reserved in all RTCs for those coming from PLCs.

So if you son is likely to be looking for a job straight from school, an apprenticeship or a place on a PLC course, then the Leaving Cert Applied is a safe option and you need have no worries. If you are thinking of him going to university, this is not the course for him.

It is a great option for the child who is switched off academic learning, but is good at practical things; hates sitting around, but likes more active learning and getting stuck in to projects and activities.

Q: My daughter is teaching history as a temporary teacher and her school has just told her that it cannot guarantee the same hours next year and history may be made non compulsory and there would be less students taking the subject. She is very worried for her future. Should she try to get qualified in another subject? - south Dublin mother

A: I have never known so much hysteria to be generated about anything in education as the proposals on history teaching. Your daughter's job is as secure as ever it was, and the only way her school will have fewer history hours next year is if the school itself decides to reduce it.

There is no question - and never was - of anything being done about history as a compulsory subject in the short term.

The White Paper on Education, which was published a year ago, mentioned English, Irish and maths as the compulsory core subjects for Junior Cert students and did not mention history and geography; that is all. Nothing has happened since then except people letting off steam over the alleged affront to history. No decisions have been taken, no statements made by the Minister for Education except to say, in response to questions, that there was a problem with fitting all subjects into a crowded curriculum and that she would ask the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) to look at the matter again.

So no decision has been made on history becoming non compulsory, and even if a decision were to be made there would have to be at least a three year lead in from first year and probably longer. The NCCA has now been asked to look at the whole junior cycle curriculum, so even that is going to take some time.

Frankly, I don't think the status of history is going to change, so tell your daughter to stick to her subject and stop worrying.