Ruairi Quinn: Teachers willing and able to test own students

Education Minister Ruairi Quinn says the fact that one-in-five students are being marked in oral Irish exams for the Junior Certificate shows teachers are willing and able to assess their own students.

He said State Examinations Commission figures showing a dramatic rise in numbers of schools and students taking part in the test are evidence that this is already happening. The numbers doing the test — which is optional because the commission does not pay outside examiners to visit schools — rose from 725 at 24 schools in 2009 to 10,640 at 196 schools last year after marks for it rose to 40% in 2010.

As reported in the Irish Examiner last week, the Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland is reminding members of its ban on marking their own students for State exams, including Junior Certificate oral Irish.