Minister for Education Helen McEntee has said she wants works by William Shakespeare to remain compulsory for Leaving Cert English.

Policymakers had proposed that it be optional for higher level students, after a report found that some teachers questioned the necessity of studying the poet’s work.

English teacher in Skibbereen Community School Conor Murphy said that while Shakespeare’s work may be great, he shouldn’t necessarily be elevated above all other writers.

 “The idea that Shakespeare is the most creative person ever, that he stands above all other writers of novels and poems and films, and that he is to be lauded above all else, I think is not something that we should necessarily promote,” he told Lunchtime Live.

“[Not] in an educational setting and especially not one in a creative environment.

“I think he should be studied, but he could be an option of about four or five other writers of similar stature.

“Rather than just elevating him above everybody else.”

The leaving and junior cert exams start today with around 131,000 pupils sitting the tests countrywide. Credit: AG News/Alamy Live News

Mr Murphy also pointed out that Shakespeare was an English writer, and suggested that the Irish curriculum should focus more on Irish talent.

“I checked to see what other countries he's compulsory in; he's in compulsory in the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland, Wales and England.

“That, again, doesn't sit too great with me.

“I'm not too sure why we should elevate an Englishman who was put to prominence in the 18th century as there was the military imperialism of the British and English Empire.”

'He's so foundational'

Assistant Professor at DCU’s School of English Dr Ellen Howley said while she agrees that there could be more done to promote other writers, she sees it as impossible to study English without including Shakespeare.

“He's so foundational to shared culture and history, shared literary history,” she said.

“Philosophers have looked up figures like Hamlet to think about how we understand the self and the individual.

“But even beyond that, phrases from Shakespeare are still used today that he first wrote them down - ‘vanishing to thin air, too much of a good thing, a laughingstock’ - and so on.

“He is so important, whether we realize it not, to how we understand ourselves.”

Dr Howley said that while the writing in Shakespearean texts is undeniably archaic, it is good for students to be challenged.

Main image: Shakespeare.