A STUDY of how the Junior Certificate might be reformed and modernised is expected to be completed by the end of this year, Minister for Education Batt O’Keeffe said yesterday.
The National Council for Curriculum and Assessment is examining the junior cycles in other countries in an attempt to find a means to cut the amount of rote learning in the Irish system.
Speaking as some 55,000 students received their Junior Cert results, the Minister said the junior cycle no longer had the high profile it once did and he had already spoken to the council about how it might be reformed.
“I’m concerned about rote learning and believe we must develop a far greater understanding of subjects and in particular the practical subjects,” he told RTÉ Radio. “Is it absolutely necessary and can we replace it with something that is more appropriate for modern-day teaching methodologies?”
Earlier this year Mr O’Keeffe said the Junior Cert was “driven by rote learning and examination pressures, rather than the promotion of real understanding and skills”.
Employers’ group Ibec yesterday welcomed Mr O’Keeffe’s comments, saying society and the economy had changed and that the Junior Cert should follow.
Ibec’s head of education policy Tony O’Donoghue said the Junior Cert fostered negative attitudes towards particular subjects and discouraged some students from continuing their education.
