Students lured by added value of oral Irish exam
September 20, 2011
More and more students are opting to take the oral Irish exam since the introduction in 2010 of a new marking system for Irish at Junior Cert level.
A new marking scheme for Junior and Leaving Certificate Irish was announced back in 2007 by the then Minister for Education Mary Hanafin. In that year, there were as few as 339 students taking the oral Irish test for the Junior Cert – which is an optional component of the overall examination.
The new plan was designed to give more weight to oral Irish in both Junior and Leaving Cert exams. The proportion of marks allocated for the oral component would be raised to 40 per cent of the overall grade in both Junior and Leacing Certs. (Previously, the allocation had been 20 per cent and 25 per cent for Junior and Leaving respectively.)
The new marking scheme, applied for the first time in Junior Cert 2010, saw a significant increase in that year in the number of students opting for the oral – up to 1687, with 54 schools participating.
This figure rose still further in 2011 when 4,276 students from 94 schools took the Junior Cert oral test.
Accodrding to the Department of Education, the increase is due to pressure from parents on schools to use the Junior Cert oral as a dry run for the “high-stakes” Leaving Cert. The 40 per cent allocation for the oral will take effect at Leaving Cert level from 2012 onwards.
Whatever the reasons, Ms Hanafin’s objective of increasing fluency in Irish among young people might just be going to be realised. However, the process of testing for the Junior Cert exam is fraught with issues of its own.
The State Examinations Commission (SEC) does not make any provision for the assessment of oral Irish in the Junior Cert. The schools themselves have to arrange oral Irish assessment for their Junior Cert students, and notify the SEC of the marks attained by each candidate.
This contrasts with the situation at Leaving Cert level where the SEC pays teachers to travel to other schools to conduct the oral exam
In the present situation, it is not fully clear whether teachers are assessing their own Junior Cert students in oral Irish, or if students are being assessed by other teachers in the school, or if schools are paying retired teachers to carry out the task, or if teachers from other schools are being paid to conduct the tests.
But one thing that is clear – the SEC does not pay teachers to carry out the oral Irish test at Junior Cert level.
Last autumn, members of County Cavan VEC called on the Department of Education to place the Junior Cert Oral Irish Exam on the same footing as the Leaving Certificate examination.
Teacher Mona Fitzpatrick said she was appalled that the Department would allow an ad hoc arrangement to exist in relation to a component in a state exam.
“It is a very serious matter… if 40% of the marks… are now going to be based on a 15-minute interview, there will have to be greater emphasis put on the monitoring of the oral Irish exam.
“It just can’t be at the whim of a particular examiner – the stakes are too high.
“Nothing has been made clear about how it will operate.
“Are we going to get training or is there going to be monitoring?” asked Ms Fitzpatrick.
Eighteen months ago, the two second-level teacher unions (ASTI and TUI) instructed their members not to conduct Junior Cert oral Irish exams until acceptable arrangements had been negotiated with the Department and adequate resources agreed, including payment and training.
But this directive has been ignored by a substantial number of schools and teachers.
A spokesperson for the ASTI said that, while she understands that members have not been assessing their own students, the union is concerned about teachers assessing students in other schools on an ad hoc basis.
“There needs to be a standardised measure applied to all elements of the state exams, whether it’s a practical test for woodwork, singing for music, or the written German exam,” she said.
“But it is also reasonable to expect that the same remuneration given to teachers who take part in other state exam assessments would apply to those who assess oral Irish in the Junior Certificate.”
(Sources: Irish Examiner; Anglo-Celt)
