Coughlan: Points system is fairest route to college
As almost 57,900 students collect their Leaving Certificate results this morning, the Tánaiste ruled out any changes to the existing system despite findings of a recent ESRI study which highlighted the huge stress it places on students.
Ms Coughlan said the harsh reality of life is that “you will always have pressure” and the current system had been examined by the Points Commission in 1999 and found to be the most appropriate.
“It was decided the most transparent and fairest was the Leaving Certificate and the points [system] we presently have,” she said.
Her comments came as second-level principals backed the call earlier this week by NUI Maynooth interim president Professor Tom Collins to consider other criteria that could be used to reduce the reliance solely on exam grades.
Meanwhile, statistics released prior to this morning’s results show the emergence of positive signs among students who have been learning maths through new teaching methods at 24 schools over the past two years.
A higher proportion of these students had chosen the higher-level exam and the failure rate in the group who took ordinary level was just over half that of the majority who sat traditional maths papers.
The National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA), which is overseeing the new programme’s introduction, said the trends were encouraging.
“When we began working on Project Maths, we described the task of reform as being similar to trying to turn a battleship and the evidence today is that the new direction has been set,” said NCCA chief executive Anne Looney.
Employers’ group IBEC expressed disappointment, however, that a record low, 16%, of those taking the traditional maths exams opted for higher level this year.
The figures also show more than 3,700 failed ordinary level maths, a lower number proportionally than in the past five years.
It has also emerged that one very bright student will find nine higher level A1s printed on his or her results this morning, while six others have got top grades in eight subjects.
The focus for those lucky students and almost 45,500 other Leaving Certificate students will then switch to college places, as the CAO prepares to make first round offers on Monday.
Ms Coughlan also reaffirmed last night that the introduction of tuition fees is off the table for the next two years under last year’s revised programme for government.
