Reforms in school education must be taken in right spirit [IrishTimes]
- Published: 30 April 2011
Curriculum changes must not be just another cynical cost-cutting exercise
THERE ARE really good reasons for Junior Certificate reform, and really bad ones. The worst reason would be a desire to save money. It is expensive to set, supervise and correct 10 to 12 exams for 15 year olds, not to mention the costs of teaching them in the first place.
In theory, there are 26 subjects for examination in the Junior Cert, including, rather quaintly, typewriting, but most schools don’t offer that many. It is still generally agreed that the curriculum is overloaded. Students “do” too many subjects.
However, abolishing the current format simply to cut down on costs would still be foolish and short-sighted. Not that those patient people at the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) are suggesting anything so drastic.
Years of dealing with procrastinating ministers have taught them to offer a menu of options, ranging from the mild to the radical. Mind you, they must be rather startled to find themselves dealing with a Minister who seems to want to change everything at once.
Nonetheless, at one end of the range offered by the NCCA, you have a modest proposal to decrease the number of subjects for traditional examination, and increasing other options for assessment, such as portfolios.
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