“Why reducing the Leaving Cert Practical Cookery class time is a Dangerous Mistake”
- Food Business Coach Tracie
- 3 days ago
- 4 min read
Last week I had a conversation with Darina Allen that really shook me.
She told me the practical cookery is being downgraded dramatically from Leaving Certificate Home Economics. Not changed. Not updated. Slowly removed.
If you think teenagers should leave school able to cook real food, this matters.
When schools don't teach kids to cook
We already see the effects of weak cookery education.
When people can’t cook, they turn to:
ready meals
takeaways
cheap, ultra‑processed foods
Over time, that means poorer health and more money going to drug companies instead of farmers. “Pay the farmer, not the doctor” isn’t just a slogan – it’s a simple truth.
Right now, across Ireland, many Home Economics teachers are doing the best, most practical cookery teaching the system has ever seen. Double practical’s are full. Students are learning basic and advanced skills. Darina Allen sees this and celebrates it – she knows, as a lifelong champion of Irish food, that good cookery teaching in schools is one of the strongest public‑health tools we have.
Removing the hours given to practical cookery and not having an exam that underpins this work sends the opposite signal.
What’s changing?
The new draft course talks about good things:
health and wellbeing
sustainability
family and community life
There are four parts:
a general “thinking and practice” strand
food and nutrition
managing household resources
family in society
So far, so reasonable.
But the big change is this: the time given to practical application of cookery is being downsized, downgraded, reduced dramatically.
Instead, students will do a big project called the Food Literacy and Applied Practice Task.
For this, they must:
investigate a food/health problem
plan a solution
cook something
reflect on it
submit a written report, photos, graphs and a video
This project is worth 40% of the mark. The other 60% is a written exam.
On paper, it sounds modern. In reality, it means:
lots of writing and computer work
lots of focus on how things look on paper or on camera
less guarantee that real, repeated cooking skills are properly tested
The Junior cycle practical exam forced schools to take cookery seriously. Students had to stand at a cooker, under time pressure, and prove they could feed themselves and others. But in the leaving cycle it doesn't exist, the pressure to protect cooking time slips.
A slow slide away from real food
The rest of the new course is quite theory‑heavy:
one strand is mostly about thinking, research and reflection
another is about energy use, money, textiles and consumer choices
another is about families, roles, relationships and supports
All important topics. But they can all be taught through:
talking and writing
case studies
projects and presentations
Without a clear, stand‑alone cookery exam, Home Ec can slowly turn into a social studies subject that sometimes cooks, instead of a practical life‑skills subject where everyone learns to cook. An exam added into this subject would ensure students had the skills to be self sufficient and proficient for a lifetime to come.
Teachers are honest about this. One says simply: “Most teachers will teach to the curriculum.” If the curriculum cares less about cooking, the timetable will, too.
Why Darina Allen’s voice matters
Darina Allen has spent her life championing real food, real skills and real farmers. She knows how much work Home Economics teachers are doing right now– and how powerful that is in fighting ultra‑processed diets and poor health.
When someone with her experience and perspective says, “This is a worry,” we should listen.
She can attest that strong practical cookery teaching in schools is at its highest when exams and policy support it, and that weakening the time given to practical cookery and not having an examined cookery component is a step backwards – for teenagers, for public health and for Irish food culture.
What needs to happen
This new course isn’t all bad. The ideas about health, sustainability and families are good. But we need to fix the cookery piece.
Three things are crucial:
Keep a clearly examined cookery element
Cooking must be tested in its own right, not hidden inside a big project.
Marks must depend strongly on what students can actually cook, not just what they can write or film.
implement a final exam in practical cookery in 6th year
Protect time in the kitchen
The rules should say how many double cookery classes students must get over two years.
The project should build on two years of regular cooking, not replace it.
Support schools and teachers
Decent kitchens and equipment.
Training for teachers in practical cookery and local food systems.
Help with ingredients and transport so classes can cook real food and, where possible, connect to local farmers and producers.
Your voice matters
Right now, the NCCA is asking for public feedback on this new course.
If you’re a parent, teacher, farmer, producer, health worker – or just someone who believes teenagers should leave school able to cook – you can have a say.
Read the draft (or even just the assessment section), then tell them:
Cooking is a core life skill.
Having a separate cookery exam is essential.
Home Ec must keep real, hands‑on cookery at its heart throughout the two years (5th and 6th).
Because if school doesn’t teach young people to cook, we know what happens: they’ll lean on processed food, and we’ll keep paying the doctor instead of the farmer – even though people like Darina Allen have shown, again and again, that teaching cookery well is one of the most powerful tools we have to change that.
The link to have your say: https://ncca.ie/en/senior-cycle/curriculum-developments/home-economics/
Thank you for looking after the future of our youth because with real cookery skills they can make better choices that will feed their future.
The link to have your say: https://ncca.ie/en/senior-cycle/curriculum-developments/home-economics/
Tracie Daly
Food Business Coach
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