The last thing the Junior Certificate needs is a quick fix - it's not entirely broken [IrishTimes]
- Published: 17 May 2011
For all its faults, the existing Junior Certificate programme has many strengths, writes BRIAN MOONEY
AFTER MANY years of consultation, the NCCA published the report Junior Cycle Developments, Innovation and Identity, the summary of its consultation findings in February.
The new Minister for Education and Skills Ruairí Quinn has now set September 2012 as a target date for the introduction of a revised Junior Certificate programme.
As a precursor to the NCCA consultation process, the ESRI carried out research into the experiences of students in the junior cycle. Among the many issues highlighted, the research identified discontinuities in the learning experiences between primary and post-primary school; that students were often taking what appeared to be an excessive number of subjects; that curriculum provision in some schools was relatively “unbalanced” with many students having no access to subjects with a practical orientation; and that the pressure experienced by teachers to complete the course for the examination meant that, at certain times, an over-reliance on giving extensive notes or on textbooks become the norm.
At the same time, students expressed a preference for more varied approaches to teaching and learning, and were more engaged with learning when these approaches were used.
Four overarching concerns have emerged from the NCCA consultation process:
First, the existing junior cycle programme has inbuilt inequalities and does not meet the needs of all students. The challenge for any new curriculum is that it be accompanied by the resources required to ensure that disadvantaged students can benefit equally from it.
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