The pressure on the Department of Education to overhaul the Junior Certificate is likely to intensify, as a new report highlights the failure of the exam to achieve many of its key objectives.
The report, which has been seen by The Irish Times, will be considered by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) this week.
It underlines the continuing failure to provide oral examinations for language subjects and practicals for science subjects. It also laments the inflexible nature of much of the curriculum, especially as the Junior Cert was intended as a broad-based course which could be tailored to the individual needs of schools.
The report reflects the views of a sample of 75 schools - and the various education partners - at a series of consultative meetings the NCCA organised last year. The NCCA advises the Minister for Education on curriculum and assessment.
Introduced in 1989, the Junior Cert replaced the Intermediate and Group Certs, to provide a balanced curriculum in the first years of post-primary education. Instead it has become a mirror-image of the Leaving Cert, with studies dominated by preparation for written State exams.
The report reflects the "common view" that the range of assessment procedures "should be broadened to include more orals, aurals, practicals and projects/ portfolios".
The problem for the Department of Education is that the school system is struggling to cope with the disruption caused by oral exams at Leaving Cert level, when language teachers leave their own schools to act as examiners and must be replaced. With schools reluctant to release teachers, a Department working party is examining options, including the closure of secondary schools for one week to facilitate Leaving Cert orals.
Against this background, the introduction of orals/practicals in language and science subjects at Junior Cert level would push the system beyond breaking point.
The introduction of new forms of assessment, notably continuous assessment, also presents problems. According to the report, some schools argued that school-based assessment has a role to play in any new arrangements.
"Teachers should have the choice and be encouraged in making the choice to assess their own students for certification purposes. From this perspective, the skill to assess student achievement is viewed as one of the skills of the professional teacher." But it also stresses the need to build the knowledge base and confidence of teachers before introducing continuous assessment.
Such assessment is commonplace in most Western countries but it is opposed by the Association of Secondary Teachers, Ireland (ASTI), which has expressed concern that teachers could be subject to external pressures from parents and others. The Teachers' Union of Ireland (TUI) is more open-minded on the subject, but it also has many concerns.
Reflecting some of these views, the report highlights concerns that an additional burden would be placed on teachers and the integrity of the State exams undermined if teachers assessed their own pupils.
The latest NCAA report reiterates many of the criticisms of the Junior Cert first made in its progress report on the exam last year. In response, the Department of Education published a discussion document which acknowledged many of the problems and called on all those involved in education to "engage fully with the issues as a matter of urgency and agree a way forward".