We're 'codding ourselves' about the quality of our education system: Quinn [IrishExaminer]
- Published: 14 September 2011
Mr Quinn's comments come as Junior Cert results showed high failure rates in maths and some languages.
A more student-friendly 'Project Maths' exam trialled in two dozen schools saw better results, and more than half of students took the higher level paper in it.
Full Story: www.examiner.ie
Education Minister Quinn promises ‘radical education reform’ [siliconrepublic.com]
- Published: 14 September 2011
Ireland's Education Minister Ruairi Quinn has called for radical reform of the education system with a new structure that moves away from the outmoded by-rote system to one that recognises 21st-century critical and creative thinking.
The much-needed education system reform will begin with the Junior Cert and may eventually extend to reforming the outmoded points system for third level.
Congratulating the 57,000 Junior Cert Students who received their results today, Quinn said: “The educational journey starts in pre-school but as a result of the points system, creative thinking is replaced by memory recall.
Full Story: www.siliconrepublic.com
Alarm bells as 2,000 fail ordinary maths [herald.ie]
- Published: 14 September 2011
The exam results overall are in line with last year, however concerns have been raised about the high failure rates among students in maths, science and foreign languages.
Less than half of the 65,930 candidates sat higher level maths this year -- meaning it was the least popular exam subject.
Close to 2,000 students (7.5pc) failed ordinary level maths while almost 4pc failed the subject at higher level.
Further pressure has been heaped on Education Minister Ruairi Quinn after a top international think-tank found that our problems in maths begins at primary school level.
Full Story: www.herald.ie
Reform of Junior Certificate must not be excuse to cut costs [ibec.ie]
- Published: 14 September 2011
In advance of the Junior Certificate results, IBEC, the group that represents Irish business, today said that the introduction of a new junior cycle curriculum must not be used by government as a way of cutting costs. Proposals for a new curriculum, involving new assessment arrangements, are set to be announced by government in the coming weeks.
IBEC head of education policy Tony Donohoe said: "IBEC strongly supports the Minister of Education and Skills’ commitment to reform in this area. Change is urgently required, but a new curriculum must be adequately resourced if it is to develop a broader range of skills and stimulate pupils’ enthusiasm for learning. An overhaul of the current over-crowded, rigid and subject-based curriculum is long overdue. The current system does not encourage the types of creativity, flexibility, independent thinking and appetite for learning that are so critical in later stages of education and work.
Full Story: www.ibec.ie
Pupils here spend far less time on science and maths [Independent.ie]
- Published: 14 September 2011
The latest concerns on performance in some subjects come as an OECD report reveals how pupils in Irish primary schools have spent far less time being taught maths and science than the international average.
The information was gathered in 2008 and 2009, when Irish nine to 11-year-olds spent 12pc of their time on maths, compared with an OECD average of 16pc.
Irish nine to 11-year-olds also spent only 4pc of their tuition time on science, less than half the OECD average of 9pc.
In contrast, they spent 10pc of school time on religion, more than double the OECD average of 4pc.
The figures are included in the latest OECD Education at a Glance report, which provides comparable national statistics measuring the state of education worldwide.
Full Story: www.independent.ie
