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Junior Cert exams may be halved

By Niall Murray, Education Correspondent - Tuesday, November 03, 2009

THE number of exams that students would be required to sit for their Junior Certificate could be halved under one of the changes being considered in a review of the three-year cycle for younger students.

However, it is unlikely that the exam process would be scrapped entirely in an effort to save the estimated annual €30 million cost, as weekend reports had suggested. The Association of Secondary Teachers of Ireland (ASTI) said abolishing the exam would be counter-productive and would lower standards among Irish students.

The junior cycle review ordered by Education Minister Batt O’Keeffe last June follows a study by the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) which highlighted the negative effects on teenagers of the workload associated with the Junior Certificate, still largely seen as a practice run for the Leaving Certificate.

The abolition of the exam would not save money until 2011 at the earliest, as students are already well into their preparations for next June’s Junior Certificate. But while senior education sources dismiss suggestions that such a move is being considered, proposals being formulated by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) could still mean a radical overhaul of the three-year cycle.

One model which has been discussed by the NCCA involves the first year of second-level being an induction to the system of new subjects and different teachers, with some informal assessment at the end.

They would then spend second and third year preparing for the Junior Certificate, rather than three years, as currently happens.

Another option being examined is reducing the number of subjects in which students are formally examined to four or five – to include English, maths and Irish – and having informal assessment of other subjects by schools.

Alternatively, they might only take exams in six or seven subjects, rather than the nine or more subjects currently sat by most Junior Certificate candidates.

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