O’Keeffe outlines Leaving Certificate policy vision

ANY reform of Leaving Certificate courses and assessment methods are likely to depend on a reduction in the level of testing for Junior Certificate students under a policy vision outlined by Education Minister Batt O’Keeffe.

The minister told theNational Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA), the state body that advises him in this area, he is committed to further reforms of maths, science and Irish for senior cycle students and other Leaving Certificate changes as soon as resources allow. But there are many inherent constraints in a centralised system of exams which are set and marked externally.

“The scope for further reform in senior cycle will rest heavily on some decrease being made in the scale and volume of assessment at junior cycle. This is not a matter of funding, but that further complexity and volume in the constraints of a limited timeframe increase the risk of system failure.”