When it comes to sacred cows in Ireland, educational or otherwise, there is little to compare with the Leaving Certificate. People will aggressively question the church, the government, even revered institutions such as the family or marriage, but questioning this annual fixture - which places huge strain on thousands of young people - is a rare event.
It is against this background that a new report on the exam from the influential National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) should be seen. Moving cautiously, the NCCA outlines a range of drawbacks which the mainstream exam (as opposed to the vocational and applied Leaving Certs) appears to have.
The primary one, according to the report, is a narrow academic emphasis, which means virtually no recognition for work experience, charity work, sporting excellence or artistic endeavour.
Even the exam itself rewards narrow forms of learning, with problem-solving, practical work and the ability to think on your feet eschewed for rote learning.
In a world where the workplace is centre stage and where people are expected to think creatively, the exam needs to be seriously looked at, according to the NCCA.
It acknowledges the "towering presence" of the exam, but says many would like to see it "recognise the achievements of students in non-examination subjects". Rather than present students with just a limited list of academic achievements after their years in school, the NCCA document talks of a "portfolio of qualifications".
It gives little detail of what this could mean in practice, but some educationists would like to see grades in subjects such as English, Irish, maths etc placed alongside achievement in sport or other extra-curricular activities.
One point which emerges strongly from the report is that while the education landscape at senior cycle has been transformed over recent years - we now have the Leaving Cert Vocational and Leaving Cert Applied - the mainstream exam has been virtually untouched.
While there is some myopic snobbery about the Leaving Cert Applied and Leaving Cert Vocational, these programmes are far more modern in their structure than the mainstream exam.
The Leaving Cert Vocational, with its emphasis on learning outside the classroom, and the Leaving Certificate Applied's leaning towards practical work mark them out as innovative programmes.
The authors are concerned that the vast majority who do the mainstream exam may be missing out on some of the progressive elements which are part of the other two.
Although understandably reluctant to be prescriptive, the authors suggest various ways in which the three types of Leaving Certificate could be merged to benefit everyone. They also talk positively about the transition year programme and suggest that this might also be merged with the Leaving Cert exams.
While many in the education sector will welcome these suggestions, they are unlikely to be developed in the short term.
The NCCA also signals that the Junior Certificate needs to be radically altered and says that some form of continuous assessment should be looked at. Without reform at Junior Cert level, reform of the Leaving Cert becomes harder, one source explained last night.
He pointed out that introducing more practical tests at Leaving Certificate was problematic because many school principals were reluctant to release teachers for this purpose when staff shortages were so acute.
While many of the reforms would be welcomed, there is little public clamour for widespread changes to the Leaving Cert.
Even the Government's most recent examination of the points system - the Points Commission report of 1999 - suggested only minor tinkering with the exam. The view that the exam is the "best of a bad lot" still dominates thinking among policymakers and teachers.
Students, of course, are a different matter, and the Points Commission found large numbers of them thirsting for a change in the system. The NCCA report acknowledges this: "Students are the consumers of educational change. Their views on proposed developments in education at this level are almost never sought."