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A NEW SYSTEM of portfolio-based assessment is likely to replace many Junior Cert exams under proposals to be considered by education minister Ruairí Quinn.
The downgrading of traditional exams in favour of more continuous, school-work based assessment is “certainly on the cards”, a spokesperson for the Department of Education has confirmed to TheJournal.ie. She said the system was likely to be “portfolio-based”, focusing on the completion of a piece of coursework rather than repeated class tests, and added:
The minister is certainly in favour of reforming the Junior Cert. He has made it a priority since he came into office. He’s very anxious and ambitious to begin reforms.
However, she stressed that the proportion of marks which would be allocated between exams and coursework was still undecided. Seán Flynn reports in the Irish Times this morning that a document from the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment – a body tasked with preparing proposals for Minister Quinn to consider – sets forward either a 50-50 split between exams and coursework, or a 60-40 split in favour of exams.
The council suggests that the reforms would lead to a greater focus on learning, rather than simply preparing for an exam. It’s believed the reforms could take place as soon as September 2012.
The NCCA is due to finalise its proposals next month and present them to the minister, the Department of Education spokesperson said. She added nothing had been decided yet, but a final announcement was expected in late October.
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only issue here is that with the internet it is so easy for students to use others work. I feel that exams offer a better guage of a student’s knowledge.
They could implement anti-plagiarism policies such as those used at third level, programs such as SafeAssign are also good.
Not a bad idea but surely something like this would need to be implemented along with a radical shakeup of the leaving cert too,especially if they are doing away with TY. It would be extremely unfair on students and teachers alike to completely change the dynamic of the school,the way things are corrected etc, so suddenly! Also doesn’t allow for the vastly increased workload on teachers,who despite a common and wrongly held belief have a huge workload,especially from Jan to may
When I did Construction Studies for the Leaving in the 90′s, it was about 40% exam, with the rest being based on a project and a practical (woodwork) exam. This made students a lot more interested and spread the burden over more than just a three hour exam.
This could work well if handled right. The Junior and Leaving Certs are month long cramming exercises for many, and continuous assessment, which students have to get used to in many college courses anyway, is a good idea.
There is no doubt that we should better build schoolrooms for “ the boy,” than cells and gibbets for “the Man” learn to get a degree from “High Speed Universities” article in few months and get a job
have your say