Exam overhaul plan ready for Hanafin

Leaving Cert students may face a new rolling series of exams, the most radical change to date, reports Seán Flynn.

The most radical overhaul of the Leaving Cert exam in its history will be tabled by a key advisory group to the Minister for Education later this week.

Under the proposals, students will face a new rolling series of exams over a two-year cycle, instead of one terminal exam. It also proposes new transition units in areas such as drama and sport and a much wider choice of subjects.

The unpublished 84-page document, prepared by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA), will be considered on Thursday.

It proposes new "assessment managers" in each school to manage new assessment programmes. It also says the use of information and video technology in exams will be explored.

But the proposals - likely to cost the Exchequer millions in extra funding - have already been described as the "Rolls Royce" option by the Minister for Education, Ms Hanafin, who is uneasy about changes to the exam.

The council has defended its proposals, which it says "do not involve change for change's sake". The new exam, it says, could help reduce the drop-out rate after the Junior Cert, assist those with special education needs and meet a wider range of educational, social and economic needs.

The NCCA, made up of the various education partners, says the current exam puts too much stress on rote learning and places too much pressure on students. The proposals, which it would like to see implemented from 2010, would see a mix of the following over a two or three-year cycle.

u Traditional subjects such as Irish, English, maths, science etc (160 hour units)

u Short courses, designed to widen choice for students. Includes areas such as drama and theatre studies, enterprise education, Irish language, mathematical applications, modern language, health education and promotion, psychology, science and society, social and political education and sports studies (90-hour units).

u Transition units. A new programme building on transition year. This will include work experience, use of information technology, voluntary work , project work and activity-based learning (45-hour units).

It proposes a rolling series of exams (called assessment events) at the end of each year in the new two- or three-year cycle. Main subjects will be examined on two occasions and short courses will have one exam.

Students will be assessed by the State Exams Commission except in the case of subjects such as drama where they could be assessed by their own teachers. Students will also be given certification for their work in the transition units.

The NCCA is pressing on with reform of the Leaving Cert despite last week's Irish Times interview in which Ms Hanafin defended the current exam regime, saying the Leaving Cert was well regarded nationally and internationally. She also doubted the capacity of many teenage boys for self-directed learning when so many are under-performing in the current exam-focused environment.

The Minister also stressed that she was not interested in "change for change's sake" in the education sector and expressed concern about the potential cost of the proposals.

The NCCA document does not cost its proposals. But it does acknowledge that an increase of 15-20 per cent in what it calls "assessment activity" is likely. With the Leaving Cert now costing €50 million to run, this would amount to an extra €10 million.