In a significant move, the Minister for Education, Dr Woods, has signalled his personal support for some reform of the Leaving Certificate examination. Interviewed in the EL supplement of this newspaper today, he says he would like to see a more wide-ranging exam that tests a wider range of abilities. "I think there might be a greater role for a range of other continuous assessment models", he says.
Dr Woods's views are certain to increase the clamour among many educationalists for radical reform of the exam. Despite the welcome introduction of the Leaving Cert Applied and the Leaving Cert Vocational, the mainstream Leaving Certificate exam is, in many respects, unchanged for a generation and more. Both the 1999 Points Commission and a recent draft report from the National Council of Curriculum and Assessment have pointed to its drawbacks. These are increasingly apparent. There is an over-academic emphasis in many subjects and a very limited range of assessment procedures. The continuing absence of any practicals in science subjects may also be contributing to the marked fall-off in student interest.
The exam is out of kilter with the needs of modern society in other respects. It does little to recognise the achievements of students in non-examination subjects and in extracurricular activities. There is no reward for social skills, sporting prowess or ability in drama or debating. A very limited range of skills, including a student's ability to perform under intense time pressure, is assessed in the exam.
A switch to continuous assessment and certification for non-academic activities could present a more rounded picture of a school-leaver. There are obvious concerns about continuous assessment of students by their own teachers. The great strength of the Leaving Cert is that every student is marked in the same way, regardless of background or social class. But this does not obviate the need for reform. It should be possible to devise a continuous assessment model and to formulate a new system of certification of students in non-academic areas like sport and drama. Dr Woods has helped to give the debate on the future of the Leaving Cert a new impetus and he should be commended on this. It is to be hoped that the teaching unions will look at the issue in an open-minded and constructive way.