We need your help now
Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.
You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.
If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.
Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
By continuing, you are indicating that you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
THE GOVERNMENT HAS announced that plans to hold a school-based version of the Junior Cert in the autumn have been cancelled, after some schools refused to hold these types of tests.
Instead, all third year Junior Cycle students are to be awarded certificates for the completion of Junior Cycle by the Department of Education and Skills. This cert will list the subjects taken, but not grades.
As soon as possible after the end of the current school year, students will receive a written school report on their learning achievements in each subject, Education Minister Joe McHugh confirmed today.
This report card from the school will list the grades attained for each subject.
The announcement comes after a meeting this morning with the stakeholder advisory group on the State examinations.
It had been announced previously that schools would have to hold a school-based version of the Junior Cert to assess students; but today, schools were given the autonomy to decide whether to run school-based assessments or not, and to decide what form they take.
The different options schools have to assess their students, the Department of Education said, include: school-designed examinations, tasks, projects, assignments, essay style questions, presentations, or other tasks agreed at a local level.
Christina Finn / TwitterMinister explains here how it will work: pic.twitter.com/9I5cnFMfXW
— Christina Finn (@christinafinn8) April 29, 2020
Guidance for schools on reporting to students and parents, developed with the advice of the advisory group of stakeholders, will be published by the Education Department.
Speaking to reporters this afternoon McHugh said that the Junior Cert this year “won’t be in the form of an examination as we know it”.
“Examinations for State examinations, they have to happen at the same time on the same day, with the same information and same question,” he said, stating that schools themselves will have autonomy over the process.
McHugh emphasised that Junior Cert students would have assessments, rather than exams.
“Schools will ensure that the students, the work that they’ve done over a period of three years, they’ll have to formulate the best way of assessing that.
Maybe there’s a research project in geography we can ask them to do for example, so it’s giving them that autonomy, but it’s also trusting the school, and trusting the teachers.
The minister said he expects the majority of schools will opt to assess the work carried out to date.
He said that the decisions announced today were made “with the health and wellbeing of students, parents and teachers at the forefront of our thinking”.
It gives students and their families more clarity and certainty. It also gives schools freedom to decide how best to assess the progress of students following three years of hard work and learning.
There had been concerns raised last week on behalf of the small number of students who leave school after the junior cycle to take up apprenticeships and whether they would have sufficient qualifications to present.
It was clarified that the certificate of completion will be acceptable for students seeking to do apprenticeships.
The Teachers’ Union of Ireland (TUI) has welcomed this afternoon’s announcement, stating that the approach is informed by principles of fairness and equity.
TUI President Seamus Lahart said:
“We welcome the certainty that these revised arrangements provide at a time of worry, stress and uncertainty for students, parents and teachers.
“Following consultation with members, TUI made clear to the Department of Education and Skills in recent discussions that requiring Senior Cycle students to sit examinations designed for Junior Cycle would be regressive educationally and would further complicate what is likely to be an extremely challenging process of re-opening schools in September.
“Any such arrangements would also be time-consuming, would cause unnecessary stress for students and would unacceptably increase the workload of teachers and school management,” he said.
The TUI also welcomed the confirmation that arrangements will be put in place for the small cohort of adult learners, who would otherwise have taken the exams in summer, to take the final exam in the subject or subjects for which they are entered at a later date.
Last week, plans were announced to hold the Leaving Cert exams from 29 July; exactly how the exams will be carried out will be confirmed in the first week of June, McHugh said.
- with reporting from Christina Finn
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
She 100% spot on. We need to focus on Irish industry and get Irish companies selling Irish products not on the googles and apples who stay here and literally pay no tax. If apple and google paid what they should be paying it would go a long way to paying off the debts that we owe.
But then they wouldn’t be here in all likelihood. So is it better to get very little corporation tax from them, but large amounts of employment taxes or to get neither and have to support through social welfare the workers currently employed by them?
At a basic level, that is what the choice comes down to.
Thats pure crap, why should we treat these corporations different than irish companies. If the big US companies pay nothing then we shouldn’t complain when an Irish company pays nothing. Treat them the same.
Then we got the vacuum when a US company leaves Ireland what do we do with the unemployed! Put them on a plane and ship them to Australia. If we have irish companies with Irish jobs then people won’t need to emigrate to get work. As long as we depend on US multi nationals we will always have emigration. It is the scourge of society since 1800
That’s what we should do, but our politicians are dancing and the corporate companies are shooting at their feet!
Ned what about the taxes paid by employees, services providers to these large orgs. Take a wholistic view of tax and not the narrow view taken by some seeking votes. Individuals pulling one narrow metric to make a broad statement is both dangerous and demonstrates limited knowledge of full end to end impact of FDi.. Little like comments from left wing TDs and unions.
Short term it works out fine. The problem i have is that we expect an irish company to pay full tax and a foreign company to pay less than 1%. If the company moves on because it can make more money in another country it will and all the jobs are lost.
If apple paid tax that the should then it would be at least 10billion. That would greatly help with current situation. Then u got google facebook and the rest!!!!
It would take a long time for all the employees of the US companies to make 10 billion.
Good MEP – knows her brief, works hard and has smart ideas. What more do can you ask? She’ll get my vote!
Mine too. She talks sense and follows through. Only genuine politician that I know of.
She’s actually one of the better ones out there, though it’s a really competitive constituency so she might struggle, especially with Ming entering the race which could split the independent left wing vote.
That is my worry. Ming is entertaining at times and while he might liven up the campaign a little bit, I fear that his decision to run means that Marian Harkin and him will both lose out. She’s built up a good reputation in Brussels and adds something substansial to the debate. Ming only adds entertainment as far as I can see.
“Independent left wing vote”?
Marian Harkin is a member of ALDE, the same group to which FF belong.
@ Noel: True that they are both part of the ALDE group within the Parliament, but it is slightly more complicated than that.
FF is a member of Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party, while Harkin is a member of the European Democratic Party – which sits with the ALDE grouping in the European Parliament in order to recieve speaking time etc.
A situation somewhat akin to the ULA sitting with Shane Ross and Stephen Donnelly in the Dáil, in order that both can benefit.
Shes right , The govt are a disgrace jetting around the world like clowns allegedly getting investment while our own homegrown entrepreneur and small investors are largely ignored. if we ever hope to get Ireland to stand on its own feet we have to build our own indigenous business from ground up. I would love to see how effective has their so called business trips versus the actual gain recieved has been.
She is right , but no one wants to see small company’s getting a start , I moved back here from the states and tried to get funding to start a company that I have been given a licence by the owner of the parent company in the states to start here , I went to local development boards , done buisness classes , went to Solas and no me wants to hear it , they asked if I was working here now ,I said no of course , and they said I would have to be in receipt of jobseekers for at least a year , which I did ,and still no . I had a meeting for one last attempt three weeks ago and the woman wouldn’t even listen to me in Solas , said I couldn’t get funding I would need to try a job bridge course or an internship and offered me a job grooming dogs , so I’m off out of here and starting it in Newyork to make capital to fund the Irish side of it myself , hopefully , but they could do more , the price of a few flights for these people would have got me going , I had bought my own vehicles for the company already ,just needed to secure first import of product ,ah well , I hope she makes changes .
Seems the job is getting a bit too much for you Marian. . .
In fairness at least she can distinguish between the yes and no buttons when voting unlike our current MEP’s FF/FG/Lab……
It isa bit early yet to be putting up posters, from 23rd April is the correct time.
Yes and cutting hedges ceases on the first of March… Buts its still being done. Country cannot run without breaking the rules.
Two more questions
Who voted for the President of the European Council?
Did anyone in Ireland vote for Van Rompuy or for that matter Barroso or even hear of them before they took over ?
1) Who voted for the President of the European Council?
The members of the European Council in 2009 voted for him. The members of the Council are the Heads of State and Government, while the President himself is more like a secretary to a board than anything else. He organises meetings of the European Council and follows up on actions agreed afterwards.
2) Did anyone in Ireland vote for Van Rompuy or for that matter Barroso or even hear of them before they took over ?
Nope, as Van Rompuy was the Belgian Prime Minister – nobody would have voted for him in Ireland. But in effect that doesn’t really matter greatly, because his role is more akin to that of secretary of the board. The two other Presidents – President of the European Commission and President of the European Parliament – are argubably much more powerful in managing the European agenda.
Regarding Barroso, he was selected in 2004 by the members of the European Commission. However this year the process has been changed significantly and MEPs will have more of a role in electing the Commission President, like the Dáil elects the Taoiseach for example.
I hope that helps. European Voice and EurActiv both have good articles outlining how the process will work this year verses 2004.
I found her less than helpful, like most politicians, when I went to her trying to highlight the lack of formal education in my industry. Voters are growing long memories.
What industry
The blacksmith industry. We are the third largest craft industry worth €15m to the Irish economy every year but have no training facility’s. Marian did not feel we were worth supporting.
Needs to keep those hands in her pockets!
It’s rather worrying that she is the second person to say that the role of the job suits her at the moment. I’d love if my job fitted in around my circumstances.
Oh stop putting words in her mouth. She actually said “I couldn’t have done this when I had younger children …”
Yes so what I said is true
Another politician hoping to benefit from gender discrimination.
How so? She was first elected in 2004 as an MEP and is an independent, so never elected using an internal party quota.
The point she makes on the whole system of quotas is quite a good one I thought.
She makes no point at all. Simply makes an ambiguous statement about some people being given the nod because of nepotism. She doesn’t explain her position on this at all.
Do you really believe the answer to perceived inequality is actual statutory discrimination?
have your say