Rise in numbers taking oral Irish ‘highlights need to solve dispute’

A jump in the number of students doing an oral Irish test for the Junior Certificate highlights the need to resolve a teachers’ dispute over junior cycle assessment, a principals’ leader has claimed.

As revealed by the Irish Examiner yesterday, pupils at one-in-three schools are getting a Junior Cert Irish result today that includes marks for an oral test.

These tests are arranged locally by schools, rather than by the State Examinations Commission (SEC), despite unions’ strong opposition to the planned ending of independent external assessment in junior cycle reforms.