Resources vital to make scheme work

Education Minister Mary Hanafin and her predecessor Noel Dempsey have been anxious to introduce standardised testing for primary school children.

This is not only desirable but also necessary to monitor student progress, identify potential difficulties and provide information for teacher and school planning.

Recognising problems as early as possible is vital if they are to be tackled efficiently. It is too late when young people become so disheartened by learning difficulties that they drop out of the system.

Such failures tend to become the problems of the future.

The National Council for Curriculum Assessment (NCCA), whose function is to advise the minister on issues relating to curriculum and testing, accepts the need for primary school pupils to be assessed at the end of the first or the beginning of the second year of primary school and at the end of the fourth or the beginning of the fifth year.

But the council suggests that such testing would “create an unreasonable burden on teachers”.

The NCCA advocates the need for professional development of teachers before they undertake such testing.

From the NCCA’s suggestions, some could flippantly conclude it might be better to test the teachers instead.

Of course, what the council is really suggesting is that the proposed changes require resources and the Government should be prepared to make those resources available to ensure that standardised testing in primary schools achieves its purpose.