Sir, - Gerald McHugh (February 9th) says it would be nice to hear what secondary schoolteachers have to say about school-based assessment. I am a secondary schoolteacher and feel confident that I represent the views of the overwhelming majority of my colleagues in making the following points.One of the strengths of the Irish educational system is the perception of the teacher by the pupil as an advocate in terms of the Leaving Certificate, rather than as a judge. The introduction of school-based assessment by the pupil'sown teacher for State certification purposes would undermine this role to the detriment of all concerned.Another point which is often forgotten in this debate is the amount of the teacher's time that would have to be spent on moderation, staff meetings, appeals, recording, filing and assessment - to the detriment of actual teaching time. Is the time spent filling in forms to the benefit of the pupil? The current system has worked very well in Ireland as a predictor of future performance in employment and training and for third-level courses and has international acceptability. We should not superimpose school-based assessment on the Irish educational system just because it is practised in other countries. The objectivity of the assessment procedures must be upheld if public confidence in the examinations is to be maintained. - Yours, etc., George O'leary,Sion Hill Road, Drumcondra,Dublin 9.