Marc Ó Cathasaigh (Waterford, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I would like to start by acknowledging the huge job of work the inspectorate and the Department had to get through in order to produce the calculated grades system.

It was by no means perfect but as the last speaker said, we were not in a perfect situation. On the whole, a very good job was done. The inspectorate and the Department deserve praise and I wish to begin by doing that.

I have two questions on points of information and another on Dr. Hislop's remarks about the increased variety in the questions for the forthcoming leaving certificate. Some 2,800 candidates are looking to sit 7,300 examinations. That is slightly less than three examinations per candidate, but I assume the median is much different from the average. Is a large cohort repeating the leaving certificate in full while many others are taking one or two examinations or what is happening? The second question relates to communications with schools and supports for schools in preparing for sitting examinations. Schools are experts in putting on these types of events but are we happy that the schools have been sufficiently prepared and supported to allow the examinations to go on?

On the increased range of question choice, I am concerned specifically about a subject such as maths. How is the secondary school system communicating with the third level sector? If a greater number of questions is made available in examinations, there will be uncovered gaps in the curriculum. It sounds very much like it will be decided on a school-by-school basis. Taking maths as an example, will we end up with a cohort entering third level courses that have a mathematical component, such as economics, physics or straight maths degrees, with non-standardised gaps in their knowledge? If so, much of the first year of teaching at third level may involve finding those gaps and filling them in. Is there ongoing communication with the third level sector to identify where those gaps will be in order that they can be addressed in first year to allow this cohort of students to hit the ground running when they begin their third level courses?