Numbers taking Junior Cert oral Irish test double

THE number of students who did oral Irish tests for this year’s Junior Certificate has more than doubled since last year and quadrupled since 2006, despite a union ban on teachers marking their own students.

Marks for the optional Junior Certificate oral doubled to 40% of the total for those who took it in June, but numbers were expected to be small.

Unlike the Leaving Certificate, the State Examinations Commission (SEC) does not send out teachers from other schools to assess students’ language skills.