Time to scrap Irish exam bias
May 10, 2013
It emerged this week that pupils attend-ing private schools and those opting to take the Leaving Certificate through Irish were in the two highest categories that progressed to third-level education directly.
I have no issue with private education as people pay extra for this resource and should expect a delivery on their investment. However, I do have an issue with the Leaving Cert through Irish.
People opting to do the exam through Irish have a com-petitive advantage over their peers, both private and state. They are awarded extra points for nothing and therefore have an unfair advantage. It is now mainstream to do the Leaving in Irish and it’s time to re-move this distorted corruption of the State exam points system.
The argument for getting extra points through Irish is not clear , Ibelieve it is a benefit for opting to do the exam in the ‘native’ language rather than the everyday language of Ireland [English]. However ,if one were to be rational about it, there are many immigrant children now in Ireland doing their Leaving in their non-native second language, English. Surely they should be given a similar advantage for completing the exam in their non-native tongue?
Let’s level the playing field here and see how the statistics read in six years’ time. It is interesting to see that 10% of a gap ex-ists between Irish opting students and the next English opting exam students. Ibe-lieve the Irish opting student gets 10% of the marks they didn’t get, free gratis, which ranges between 0 and 6%. I suspect the gap would narrow should the English opt-ing student get those extra marks. It’s enough to push a student up a grade and up in points!
The other item to note, is it time to drop the compulsory requirement to do Irish in non-Irish schools? This would truly level the playing field, and those passionate about Irish could attend and do Irish as a Leaving subject, do all their subjects through Irish with no extra advantage, and those who do not wish to do so could opt out altogether from doing Irish as a subject and restore parity by selecting a subject more suited to their aptitudes. The State exam would then at least be the same for everyone, at present it is not.
Being advantageous to one group at the mercy of others lessens its worth, like it or not. The statistics may be a bit more credible also as they will compare like-for -like.
Brian McKnight
Carrigaline
Co Cork
www.irishexaminer.com
Bunscoil an tSléibhe Dhuibh – Curaidh Chorn Liam Uí Mhuirí 2013
May 10, 2013
Comhairle nua Raidió na Gaeltachta
May 9, 2013
Amhráin óige Mhúscraí taifeadta ar dhlúthdhiosca
May 9, 2013
Campaí Samhraidh do pháistí i gContae na Gaillimhe
May 9, 2013
Fee-paying pupils most likely to go to university
May 7, 2013
Department figures show half of early school leavers stay in education Only 25% of those in schools designated disadvantaged go on to higher education
Two-thirds of students who attend fee-paying secondary schools go on to higher level education, compared to about 40 per cent of students from other school types, new figures from the Department of Education have shown. The figures are based on students who completed post-primary school in 2010. The new data, compiled using detailed analysi s of r ecords held by the department , also reveal that only one quarter of students attending schools that are designated disadvantaged (Deis) went on to higher education in 2010, compared to half of all students from non-Deis schools. More than 57 per cent of pupils attending all-Irish schools enrolled in higher education courses that year.
A separate report on early school leavers has shown that of the 7,713 students who dropped out of school early in 2010, more than half have gone on to further education or training or continued in second-level education programmes such as post-Leaving Certificate courses. A further 14 per cent of early school leavers were enrolled in education or training outside of the State. Some 6 per cent had joined the workforce, while 6.6 per cent had claimed social welfare. The number of students leaving school before completion accounted for 2.5 per cent of the overall cohort in 2010, down from 3.7 per cent in 2002 . It is notable that more girls dropped out of school early than boys in 2010 – 4,023 compared to 3,690 – a trend reflected in data dating back to 2003.This finding runs counter to claims that boys are at higher risk of dropping out before the Leaving Cert.
Also, girls tended to leave post-primary schooling earlier than boys. A quarter (25 per cent) of female early school leavers left after year three of Junior Certificate/ JCSP compared to 21 per cent of boys. Overall, half of all students enrolled in the final year of senior cycle in a State-supported post-primary school in 2010 went directly to higher education. A further 28 per cent progressed to further education, training or continued second-level education. Ten percent took up employment, while 7 per cent made social welfare claims. An estimated 4 per cent enrolled in colleges abroad, with the majority talking up higher education programmes in the UK and Northern Ireland.
This report, entitled School Completers – What Next?, and its companion report Early School Leavers – What Next?, are the first in a series of annual reports by the Department of Education that will track school leavers a year after they leave school.
www.irishtimes.com
Widening gap in two-tier school system is revealed
May 7, 2013
Reports show who is going to college and who drops out PUPILS in fee-charging schools and those who receive an all-Irish education are most likely to go straight to college from school.
At the other extreme, research reveals that pupils attending schools in disadvantaged areas are most likely to drop out and if they do the Leaving Cert are least likely to go straight to a third-level institution.
Worries
A key finding – that girls are more likely than boys to leave school early – contradicts the long-held view that this was a predominantly male problem. The reports confirm much of what is already known about how the system favours some students more than others – but the level of dropout by girls will trigger fresh worries about whether the education system is adequately meeting their needs. Attempts to tackle early school leaving has traditionally focused on boys. For the first time, the Department of Education has now tracked the progress of individual school-leavers from a single year, including both those who had done the Leaving Cert and those who dropped out. The research was carried out on pupils who attended school in the 2009/2010 year, but were not enrolled the following year. The department used PPS numbers to track the pupils and, in a ground-breaking exercise, cross-checked data in a range of government departments and agencies to establish where the school-leavers were a year later.
One study, ‘School Completers – What’s Next’ looked at what happened to the 54,824 Leaving Cert candidates in 2009/2010. The other study, ‘Early School-Leavers – What’s Next’ looked at the destination of the 7,713 pupils (out of a total second-level enrolment that year of 257,060) who left school in 2009/2010 at any point before sixth year Among the key findings were that 50pc of those who completed their Leaving Cert went straight into higher education. An additional 28pc went on to further education, such as a Post Leaving Certificate (PLC) course; training, such as a FAS course; or repeated the Leaving Cert. A total of 10pc of the class of 2009/2010 took up employment; 7pc were claiming social welfare; and 5pc were ‘other’, such as emigration. A closer analysis of the average 50pc who went straight to college shows a wide variation in progression rates, depending on school sector: Fee-charging schools (66pc). All-Irish schools (57pc). Non-fee-charging secondary schools, generally those run or previously run by the religious (47pc). Comprehensive schools (42pc). Community schools (38pc). Vocational sector schools (34pc). Schools in designated disadvantaged areas (24pc).
Overall, early school leaving is much less of a problem than it was, with 11,498 dropping out of school in 2001/2002. The biggest dropout rate, 3.9pc, was in schools in designated disadvantaged areas, known as DEIS – double the rate of a non-DEIS school and four times that in an all-Irish school. Although followed closely by 3.8pc in fee-paying schools, many of these pupils may have gone on to a grind school. The research shows that more females consistently exit the second-level system earlier than males. This is true both in absolute numbers and in the percentage of the entire male and female school populations. About 55pc of early schoolleavers went on to further education – such as a PLC course, or FAS training – or continued their second-level education in a private institution such as a grind school, as 22pc of them did. Another 14pc were enrolled in further education or training outside the State, while about 6pc were working and 7pc were claiming social welfare.
Emigration
The remaining 17pc fell into the ‘other’ category, which includes emigration. Education Minister Ruairi Quinn said the reports “would fill data gaps and enhance the information used by the department to plan for the future education needs of our school-leavers”. Data was matched with agencies such as the Revenue Commissioners, the Higher Education Authority’s Student Record System, FAS, the Department of Social Protection and the Further Education and Training Awards Council.
www.independent.ie
Le Chéile Trí Chultúr – athmhuintearas pobail i measc óige an tuaiscirt
May 7, 2013
School managers tell Quinn to drop new pupil enrolment laws
May 3, 2013
SECONDARY school managers say there is no need for a law to back up proposed changes in enrolment policies.
They are unhappy with some of the proposed changes and insist that they do not need to be supported by legislation.
The Joint Managerial Body (JMB), representing management in over half of secondlevel schools, is responding to moves by Education Minister
Ruairi Quinn, who will bring draft legislation on the issue to Cabinet within weeks.
Mr Quinn will set out a range of practices that schools will not be able to engage in when enrolling pupils.
One proposal to which the JMB is opposed is Mr Quinn’s intention to curb the practice in many schools of giving preference to the children of past pupils.
Advantage
While the new rules are expected to allow schools give priority to brothers or sisters of an existing pupil, siblings of past pupils will not enjoy the same advantage.
A ban on booking deposits, curtailment of compulsory open days and interviews of children and parents and an end to the use of first-come, first-served as a basis for admissions, are also envisaged.
Mr Quinn, who says the overhaul is designed to introduce more fairness and transparency, says he needs the backing of legislation so the changes can be enforced.
The legislation would allow the minister to impose sanctions in the event of a breach.
About 80pc of schools can accommodate all applications, but the changes are designed for the 20pc of schools that are oversubscribed.
Addressing Mr Quinn at his association’s annual conference yesterday, JMB president Fr Paul Connell said those 20pc attempted to enrol pupils in as fair, equitable and inclusive a manner as possible.
He said that included a commitment to the “family unit”, a reference to the practice of giving priority to applicants with family links to the school.
Fr Connell said legislation was unnecessary, and where there was perceived inequity or difficulty it was open to the Department of Education to approach a school directly.
www.independent.ie
100,000 more pupils in our primary schools by next decade
May 1, 2013
PRIMARY school pupil enrolments will grow by up to 100,000 by 2021, according to latest projections from the Central Statistics Office (CSO).
It means a jump of 20pc on the 2011 figures, with the number of five to 12-year-olds in the population expected to rise from about 500,000 to 600,000 in the decade. The boom in primary enrolments is expected to remain reasonably stable between 2021 and 2026, before starting to drop.
The surge at primary level will work its way through to second- level, reaching its peak there between 2021 and 2026. The CSO projects a 31-34pc rise in enrolments at secondlevel, ranging between 106,00 and 117,000, in the decade to 2021.
While extra enrolments mean more schools and more teachers, in the current economic climate it also means available funds will be stretched further.
Priority
The Department of Education is adopting a “robbing Peter to pay Paul” approach to cope with extra demand.
Education Minister Ruairi Quinn has said the priority is for every school-age child to have a place in a classroom. The five-year school building programme – which is costing €2bn – is focused on areas of population growth and this year, for instance, there is no budget for maintenance and repairs to existing schools.
The 2013 programme will deliver over 25,000 permanent school places, almost 21,000 of which will be additional, and the remainder will replace temporary or unsatisfactory accommodation.
Professor Alan Barrett, of the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), said yesterday that the school-building programme should take account of changing needs.
A department spokesman said that the focus of the fiveyear programme was on meeting the obvious demand at primary level and second level up to 2016.
Recruitment
She said that Prof Barrett’s proposal was an interesting one and that it was worthy of consideration. The rising enrolments also have implications for teacher recruitment and the department predicts that about 660 extra primary teachers will be needed each year to cope with growing enrolments.
That is on top of about 870 new appointments annually to replace teachers who retire or leave for other reasons. But the department has ways of controlling teacher numbers in order to keep within budget.
A series of cuts in recent years in areas such as resource and English language teaching has kept a lid on teacher levels – even though enrolments had started to rise. At second-level, changes in arrangements for the allocation of career guidance teachers, has removed about 500 jobs from schools.
A change in the pupil-teacher ratio can also see hundreds of jobs disappear from the system in the the stroke of a pen.
www.independent.ie
