Continuous assessment bad for education

EDUCATION Minister Ruairi Quinn is (predictably) calling for a drastic revision of our examination system, with a big increase of in continuous assessment, at the very time when our neighbour to the east is taking steps to go back to exams.

A senior minister in England called this year for the abandonment of continuous assessment.

The fatal problems of continuous assessment are obvious. Exams are (obviously) not perfect, but they are completely fair if they are externally marked. Our State Exams Commission has developed a procedure that is as close to foolproof as could be imagined. Project work cannot possibly be guaranteed as the genuine work of the pupil, unless it is done under supervision, which turns it back into an examination. For “assessment” during the year, teachers are under great pressure to “help” their pupils, and end up doing more work than the pupils themselves.