Junior Cert 8-subject limit put off for 2 years

THE introduction of an eight-subject limit to the Junior Certificate is to be put back for two years following concerns by teachers and parents, Education Minister Ruairi Quinn told second-level principals yesterday.

In a reversal of his plans that the limit would take effect for students starting second level next September, the plan will now beintroduced along with wider reforms of the junior cycle planned for those entering first year in 2014.

However, Mr Quinn told the National Association of Principals and Deputy Principals (NAPD) annual conference that he wants all schools that can do so to introduce the eight-subject limit next year or in 2013.

The decision means all the changes recently proposed to him by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA), including the replacement of the Junior Cert with a new qualification, will not come into effect until the exam class of 2017.

Mr Quinn said: “The limit [on subject numbers] was proposed for good reasons, it will deal with the problem of curriculum overload and will make time and space for embedding of key skills and active learning.

“It will also allow more time for literacy and numeracy which are the two most important key skills.”

Almost 2,000 of this year’s 57,000 Junior Cert students took eight subjects, and another 3,500 took seven or fewer.

However, figures from the State Examinations Commission shows that the proportion of students taking at least nine subjects has grown from 75% in 1995 to 92% last June, while 82% of this year’s Junior Cert candidates took exams in 10 or more subjects compared to just 20% in 1995.

NAPD director Clive Byrne welcomed the minister’s recognition of the genuine concerns expressed by parents and school leaders.

“While the end goal is the same, the fact that there is no compulsion next year means the planning process to achieve those aims can proceed in a calmer atmosphere,” he said.

Teacher unions had aired concerns in recent weeks, particularly about the uncertainty on when students would pick exam subjects or if they would continue to study subjects they were not being examined in for all three years of junior cycle.

Pat King, the Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland general secretary, yesterday welcomed the minister’s announcement as a response to concerns expressed by hundreds of teachers and also a commitment by Mr Quinn that he intends to make full professional development available to ensure the effectiveness of all the changes. The Teachers’ Union of Ireland and school management bodies also welcomed the change.

The minister will give his formal response next month to the NCCA on its proposals, which include suggestions that from 2017 a qualification to replace the Junior Cert would allow the option of replacing one or two subjects with either two or four new short courses.

Unions say they support change but have concerns about elements of the plan stipulating that 40% of marks in each subject would be based on in-school assessments.