Chatterbox

What's the talk of education?

Reaction to Junior Cert reform

Six key skills – Managing Myself, Staying Well, Communications, Being Creative, Working with Others, and Managing Information and Thinking – will be part of subjects. Please say this is a joke. What we need is not more of this dumbed-down liberal waffle; we need a return to high expectations, high standards and focus on the core values we expect from an educational system. The science syllabus is a joke compared to 20 years ago. It’s been dumbed down to the level of a bucket of hair. When will the Minister realise that in order to raise standards you need to raise the bar? – LongShanks, Politics.ie

I'm looking forward in a few years to the Indo's headlines of "Crisis in Managing Myself" replacing the "Crisis in Maths", "Crisis in Science" etc hysteria of today. – Berchmans, Politics.ie

There is nothing wrong with teaching kids to “manage themselves” to “stay well”, to “work with others”, etc. Teachers see these values as essential parts of a rounded education. But these skills are already taught in schools – through CSPE, through the pastoral care system and the class tutor system, as well as through extra-curricular work – environmental projects, healthy-eating drives, sport, debating, student council, Gaisce President’s awards, etc etc. Teachers are already happily giving this added value free of charge, on top of insisting on a tough, curricular, exam-based learning ethic. Are we now to turn our schools into youth clubs, underpinned by a blizzard of paperwork? – gatsbygirl20, Politics.ie

Continuous assessment for the Junior Cert is all going to end in tears, I guarantee it. – EoinSheehy – Twitter.com

The abolition of the Junior (or Inter) Cert from 2014 will have come 37 years too late for me – MiriamDonohoe, Twitter.com

On one hand we have an extra €3.6 billion; on the other, we have a Department of Finance that would fail the Junior Cert Business Studies exam. – alanhealy, Twitter.com

Am I the only one feeling old with news of the Junior Cert being replaced? It actually replaced the Inter Cert, which I sat. – kencurtin, Twitter.com

Rather than spending lots of money creating a new (and hopefully better) education system, why not adopt a tried and tested international system that is becoming more and more popular worldwide, ie the International Baccalaureate (IB)? The IB spans all levels of education in an holistic and inclusive way, with a focus on science, arts, skills, community, action and service – Marian Lenihan, thejournal.ie

How much time would the teachers have to give up to learn this new course? – Jennifer Newman, thejournal.ie

This could go well if implemented properly. Training will be needed. Resources. Standard number and variety of extra-curricular activities in each school. Change of attitude, overall. Given the current climate, I suspect disaster. Also, will it benefit those whose school doesn’t offer a particular subject and they choose to study it privately – will that be possible with this new system of continuous assessment? . . . Let’s hope this new Junior Cert is a step in the direction of a more open, accessible and varied education system where everyone can learn and be assessed in a manner that suits their learning style. – Dara Black, Facebook.com