Results day comes a week before changes ratified

ALMOST 57,000 students receive their Junior Certificate results today — a week before planned changes are finalised on how future teenagers will be assessed.

The National Council for Curriculum and Assessment is scheduled to ratify proposals that include a range of tests aimed at taking the focus off the final exams when it meets tomorrow week.

Education Minister Ruairí Quinn wants changes to begin as soon as possible and hopes they can be introduced for students who begin second-level education in a year’s time. He has already decided to limit the number of subjects students can take exams in in the Junior Certificate to eight, part of a wider effort to increase the focus of teachers and schools on developing children’s literacy and numeracy skills.