Major reform of the Junior Certificate
October 16, 2012
Minister for Education and Skills Ruairí Quinn last week announced the radical overhaul of the current Junior Certificate program.
First year students in 2014 will be the first group to experience the new system in which the current practice of rote learning will be replaced by continuous assessment. Minister Ruairí Quinn announced that up to 40% of marks will go on school work with the remaining marks going on essays given by teachers.
Under the new system, students will take between 8 and 10 subjects from a wide range of traditional exam subjects and ‘short courses’ including subjects such as Chinese, Physical Education and Digital Media Literacy. Individual schools will devise a program of subjects from which students will choose. Schools will be expected to put together a program that will develop the ability and thinking of students with subjects that meet the needs of that particular school body. It is hoped that the new Junior Certificate will see students rather than examinations at the centre of the new approach to assessment.
Irish, English and Mathematics will remain core subjects and 2016 will see Science introduced to this group. Irish, English and Mathematics will be examined at honours and ordinary level while all other subjects will be assessed at common level only. As these subjects play a central role in the development of literacy and numeracy skills, The State Examinations Commission will be part of the assessment process for core subjects during the initial years of the new program. It is hoped that the reformed Junior Certificate will have a significant impact on Ireland’s literacy and numeracy skills.
Minister Ruairí Quinn’s announcement of the planned reform received mixed reactions last week particularly regarding the preparation for the Leaving Certificate that the Junior Certificate provides. However, the most controversial aspect of the new plan was the proposal that teachers be responsible for their own students’ continuous assessment. The major reform of the exam however, never intended to be controversial according to Minister Quinn.
“This is not about our schools, students and teachers doing more work at junior cycle. It is about them doing things differently. Teachers are already doing a great job, but they are often hamstrung by pressure to teach to the test. The new reformed junior cycle will liberate teachers and their students,” he said.
Foilsithe ar Gaelport.com
