Hands off the Leaving, but is third-level below par?

THE Leaving Cert, whilst perhaps not perfect, is perceived by most people to be fair and impartial. It has enormous international status, which has stood the test of time, despite huge changes in the world of commerce and economics.

It is one of the few remaining areas of life in Ireland that has not been corrupted and nobody, no matter how wealthy or politically powerful, can influence their own child’s results. Yet the minister for education seems hell-bent on destroying it.

As a teacher, I see it as my task to help my students to get the best possible grade in their Leaving Cert. I know they see me as someone who is there to support them and help them through, not one who decides whether they will pass or fail.

I would never want to have that relationship with my students. I am their advocate, not their judge. The fact that they have an impartial person, to whom they are only identified by number, judging their final exam, is their guarantee of fairness. The work produced by students under examination conditions has real validity. It is all their own work. Project work may or may not be.

The divide between students from a supportive or wealthy background and those who are disadvantaged widens considerably when projects are completed at home.

Third-level institutions are reporting increasing difficulty in judging what is original work from what has been plagiarised from the internet.

If teachers assess their own pupils for certification purposes they will come under enormous pressure. Anyone who reads the evidence placed before the various tribunals must surely be aware of the pressures, not to say inducements, encountered by those who had the power to rezone land.

Teachers who can be identified as having the power to decide Leaving Cert points will not be immune.

I have put thousands of students through state exams since I started teaching. Amongst them were the children of my principal, my colleagues and even my own children. This is by no means uncommon. Thankfully, I never had to test my own impartiality.

Over-interference by government in Britain has ruined an education system that was once the envy of the world. Let us not go down that path.

The minister would do far better to put all his attention into removing inequality and disadvantage within the education system rather than interfering with what is not broken.

Susie Hall

President

Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland

ASTI House

Winetavern Street

Dublin 8