Sir, – This is one of those times of year when everyone who has ever been to school voices their opinion about the inadequacies of our education system, especially the Leaving Certificate. But the Leaving, in its current form, is the inevitable outcome of an approach to assessment that emphasises consistency and transparency. It is a basic tenet of the system that students should know exactly what is required of them and exactly how they will be marked. This inevitably leads to teaching and learning to the test.
However, it is important to remember that the Leaving Certificate is just the beginning of a lifelong learning process and the third-level institutions, in particular, have up to four years to cultivate all those higher order attributes like critical thinking, problem solving and creativity that the Leaving cannot. But that requires resources, not only in terms of staffing, but also in terms of basic infrastructure, especially in the Stem (science, technology, engineering and maths) disciplines.
Given the constraints on the public finances and gathering demographic pressures, it is more important than ever that the core mission of the third-level institutions be reaffirmed and supported accordingly. While third-level institutions are now expected to contribute to society and the economy in many ways – perhaps too many – it must not be forgotten that our primary role is to educate, especially at undergraduate level. We need to remember this as the sector enters a period of change and reconsideration. – Yours, et,
Dr GREG FOLEY,
Associate Dean
for Teaching and Learning,
Faculty of Science
and Health Lecturer
in Bioprocess Engineering,
Dublin City University.