Dáil should not 'undermine grades'

MINISTER FOR Education Batt O’Keeffe warned that the Dáil should not “underestimate and undermine in any way” the quality of the State’s educational qualifications.

“It is important that we would not undermine the quality of the graduates who have gone through our system, the flexibility they have shown, the fact that education has been responsible for multinationals locating here because of the quality of the education and the flexibility of the workforce,” he added.

Mr O’Keeffe said the announcement of high-tech jobs meant that there was confidence in the State’s educational system.

“But what we have to do is challenge the system into the future,” he added. The Minister was replying to Fine Gael spokesman Brian Hayes who asked about investigations into grade inflation in second and third level .

Mr Hayes said the department was in denial about the problem for years. He claimed the regulatory system was not working, in terms of quality assurance for graduates and the reputation of our educational system abroad.

It seemed, he said, as if the Minister had only taken action following conversations he had with leading multinationals in Ireland.

While it was right that those voices should be heard, why two years ago, had the department, through the State Examination Commission, dismissed published data highlighting the problem of grade inflation, he asked.

Mr O’Keeffe insisted there were very good controls in place covering those sitting and examining papers. “There is a mechanism produced, which the examiner has to follow.”

Mr O’Keeffe said while there had been a significant increase in the proportions scoring at grade A, B and A, B, C at higher level in the Leaving between 1992 and 2009, most of the increase took place during the 1990s.

Grades had largely stabilised since the establishment of the State Examination Commission in 2003. There was an extensive range of quality assurance measures in place to ensure the validity and consistency of assessment, the Minister added.

He said a range of issues could affect grading in the certificate examinations, including curriculum reform, the introduction of a second assessment component, investment in professional development for teachers, exam-oriented teaching and better information through improved internet access.

Data on higher education presented to him indicated a trend of increasing award levels.

He added that the proportion of students gaining first-class honours increased from 11.2 per cent to 16.6 per cent in the institutes of technology between 1998 and 2008. The increase was from 8.3 per cent to 16.2 per cent in the universities between 1997 and 2008.

A number of factors had to be considered, including deliberate decisions on assessment standards prompted by external examiner findings aimed at aligning Irish standards with international norms.

Mr O’Keeffe said he was establishing a qualifications and quality assurance agency, which would focus on external quality assurance in higher education.