The new Leaving Certificate subject, Politics and Society, will be an option for students from this September.

A total of 115 schools have expressed interest in the new subject.

For the students taking it from September this year, it will be a full Leaving Cert subject in 2018.

Politics and Society is one of the Department of Education’s legacy projects under its 2016 commemorative programme.

Overall, students will be required to learn about power and decision-making at local and international level, and about human rights and globalisation.

Minister for Education Jan O’Sullivan said: “I am convinced that this new subject will inspire a generation of new social and political activists in Ireland, and I look forward immensely to seeing the positive impact these students will have on society hereafter”.

In power and decision-making, for example, students should be able to identify left-wing and right-wing political positions. They will also be expected to explore ideas behind different ideologies.

The course will include a focus on voting systems in the Oireachtas, ownership and control of the media, and definitions such as social class and patriarchy.

Teachers

It is understood teachers with a degree or post-graduate qualification in areas such as politics, sociology and anthropology will be considered in the first group of teachers to deliver the course.

The subject is designed to be taught in 180 hours, or a double-class period each week.

The subject will be offered at higher and ordinary level, with a written exam accounting for the majority (80 per cent) of points.

It will also involve a citizenship project undertaken by individual students which will attract 20 per cent of final marks.