Principals oppose moving exams to May

SCHOOL principals have opposed Education Minister Mary Hanafin’s proposal to move some Leaving Certificate papers to May, to ease exam stress on students.

The National Association of Principals and Deputy Principals (NAPD) believes the exam timetable should, instead, be extended in June to cater for new subjects.

Ms Hanafin suggests the first papers in English and Irish — normally sat in the busy first week of exams every June — could be taken a month earlier to reduce the pressure felt by students.

NAPD president Clive Byrne said he understands the pressures faced by the State Examinations Commission (SEC) to fit more subjects into the timetable, but it is time to look at the bigger picture rather than tinkering with the issue on a piecemeal basis.

“I accept that the call for May examinations was to lessen the stress on students but a number of difficulties have emerged in the course of consultations,” Mr Byrne told the NAPD annual conference in Killarney yesterday.

“Extending the exams in June to increase the number of slots available to cope with an increasing number of subjects seems a better option than moving English and Irish Paper I into May,” he said.

Mr Byrne said this was because many schools already have exams, projects or assessments due in art, engineering, music, home economics and for Leaving Certificate Applied in April or May.

“How will the stress levels of those students be improved by holding earlier exams in Irish and English?” the NAPD president asked.

Following previous calls for an extended June exam timetable, the SEC has said that this would affect its ability to have papers marked in time for results to be issued in mid-August.

Mr Byrne also called for discussions with the Department of Education, school management bodies, teacher unions and others on the best use of the 167 days in the school year which are being eroded by in-service days and the requirements of the examination system.

The NAPD has met with the SEC and others to explore solutions to the timing of oral and practical exams around Easter and in May, which means hundreds of teachers are missing from their own schools to act as examiners elsewhere.

However, teacher unions are opposed to SEC proposals to conduct some of these exams during part of the Easter school holidays. Mr Byrne said principals are also concerned that the application process for the higher diploma (HDip) second level teacher training course does not take account of subject needs.

“The education departments in universities need to be more responsive to subject shortages in the system and should also consider the ability of the candidate to engage in the academic rigour of the Leaving Certificate curriculum,” he said.

Mr Byrne said: “It is not acceptable that their [HDip candidates’] subject proposed for teaching practice may only have been taken as a module during their course.”

NAPD has briefed the Teaching Council and hopes to meet education departments to ensure an adequate flow of graduates with the necessary disciplines for schools’ requirements.