Fidelma Healy Eames (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the panel. I am sorry I missed the contributions but I was listening to most of what people said on the monitor upstairs. I compliment the Chair on having this session. It could not be more timely and it is very much needed.

I come from this sector. I like some things about the junior certificate reform proposals. I like the learning outcome statements relating to developing critical and creative thinkers. We all agree on that. I like some of the proposals on continuous assessment. I have great difficulty, however, with dumbing down a State certificate examination to a school certificate. The greatest losers will be early school leavers, those who drop out before the leaving certificate.

Even with the recession, which is keeping more students in school, between one in eight and one in ten students are still dropping out. We put these young people on the boat to wherever they are going to emigrate. Their future employers will ask for transcripts from their home school. This happened to me when I went abroad for college. All they will get is a school-based report. This is rubbish. I started tweeting yesterday about scrapping the school certificate. What is the view of the panel? In my view, it is simply reinforcing inequality. Recently, a teacher put a question to me about the weight of a school certificate from Walkinstown or Ballyfermot versus one from Blackrock or Gonaza College, whether nationally or even internationally. We know that education is the great equaliser and the route out of poverty. Why turn all of that back to make it an "unequaliser"? I am keen to hear the views of the panel on that point.

I have great difficulty with turning early school leavers into children without any State examination. I know the ASTI has articulated the point on the bias entering into an examination when we are relying totally on inside markers, that is, the teachers themselves. I propose a mix of keeping the State examination plus local continuous assessment.

I recognise where the panel is coming from on CSPE because we have the same issue with history. The panel may not like my asking the question, but we have to find a way to teach everything without overload. I am studying human rights at the moment and I have a great grá for what the panel is saying. I know what they mean about the hooks for understanding when it comes to rights. Would the panel consider a merger between history and CSPE? They are complementary.

My final question relates to the issue of physical education. For me, it is a no-brainer that it should remain. I have one child just out of second level school and another just in second level school. She is not a natural sportsperson but he was a very natural sportsperson. I want her to realise and learn that to have a healthy mind one must have a healthy body and that physical exercise is crucial. We know all the arguments around obesity. The panel is correct to suggest that the problem has not been cracked in this country, because it is as much about nutrition and lifestyle. However, since many of our children are talented at PE, does the panel not agree that there is a major argument for keeping PE on the basis of the way children learn?