IPPN

Published: 07 January 2009

Source: Irish Independent

By John Walshe

GOVERNMENT plans for revised tests in Irish will hit weaker students, the State's own advisory council on exam reform has warned.

In an unprecedented move, the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) says that the new exams place too much emphasis on spoken Irish.

Last May, the then Education Minister Mary Hanafin announced that 40pc of the marks for Irish will go to oral Irish in the Junior Cert from next year, and in the Leaving Cert from 2012.

But in a confidential report, the NCCA says 40pc is too much and should be reduced to a third. It says there are no examples anywhere in the world where a 40pc weighting applies in a high-stakes exam such as the Leaving.

Increasing the oral component from 20pc in the Junior and from 25pc in the Leaving to 40pc will also involve reducing the aural component where students with lower levels of proficiency had traditionally achieved well.

"The oral assessment component, which involves the assessment of more demanding productive language skills, is one where the same category of students have usually achieved less well.

"There is concern, therefore, from an equality perspective, that as a result of the changes, students with lower levels of proficiency in language learning will perform less well," says the report drawn up by the NCCA Course Committee for Leaving Cert Irish.

The report says that it is clear that changes to the content of the current syllabus will be necessary, following last year's ministerial decision. Some syllabus content will need to be removed because of the increased emphasis on oral skills.

The report sets out how the changes can be made but makes it clear that the committee favours a less radical change while still placing a lot of emphasis on oral skills.

Favour

The aural component should also get a stronger emphasis than planned by the Department, it suggests. At present the aural or listening test is worth 16.6pc at higher level and 20pc at ordinary level. The Department intends to change this to 10pc but the committee favours bringing it up to 17pc.

At foundation level, the listening component at present is worth 30pc but this is due to be cut to 20pc -- the committee favours restoring it to 27pc.

The report also criticises the fact that the revised arrangements were introduced with little advance notice or wider consultation with education agencies and stakeholders, including the NCCA.

This is not a welcome precedent in the area of curriculum development and implementation, it adds.

- John Walshe Education Editor