Plans to radically reform Junior Cert still on agenda

THE Government remains committed to radically reforming the Junior Certificate by 2012, with the growing possibility that a mixture of continuous assessment and “objective” external tests will make up the new exam.

Education Minister Ruairi Quinn has confirmed the change remains on the agenda as part of attempts to revolutionise Ireland’s education system.

Meanwhile, while Mr Quinn also said there will be “no change” to the system whereby the state partially funds private schools, he has warned the sector to stop blocking parents of children with disabilities or special needs from enrolling in the facilities.

The Labour minister was speaking after the Teachers Union of Ireland (TUI) said the practice was elitist and preventing some children from accessing the highest level of education they can achieve.

While the specifics of the move to reform the Junior Cert remain undecided,Mr Quin said “a mixture of objective exams and continuous assessment” from teachers is likely to make up the new system when it is rolled out.

Mr Quinn said he expected to introduce the changes from September 2012 and he has already had informal discussions with the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) on the matter.

“The current Junior Certificate will not meet the needs of future cohorts of students. Significant numbers are not developing the skills they need to learn, to live and to work,” he said.

“The current Junior Certificate exam is no longer suitable as the main form of student assessment in lower secondary education... it has a serious, negative backwash effect on students’ learning and is out of line with international practice.”

The minister has also confirmed he is examining the possibility of system-wide literacy and numeracy reform over the coming year.

However, despite telling the conference he wanted “to begin by being totally frank” about the dire financial problems facing the country, Mr Quinn refused to give an estimate for how much money is to be slashed from the education budget over the coming months.