Mr. Eamon Dennehy:

I will respond to the Deputy's comments on diversity. One key inhibitor of diversity in our second level education system is the high cost of becoming a teacher, and the length of time it takes. While there are other methods, the normal process now is to do a BA or BSc, which takes four years, and it takes a further two years to obtain a professional master of education, PME, qualification. All that, of course, costs an extraordinary amount of money. It requires the length of time it takes to complete a normal four year degree in addition to half that length in order to become a teacher. There is no doubt this is a huge barrier to diverse people becoming teachers in the education system. On the other side of that, in regard to the system and those who work in schools, a recent OECD report showed the fantastic work they do in spite of the poor conditions they often work in. One area it highlighted in the Irish education system was that it gives better opportunities to those who might be considered disadvantaged compared to the average in OECD countries. As a representative of second level teachers, I am proud of that fact.

I refer to different modes of assessment. I am a metal work teacher and my background is in engineering and the technical subjects, etc.

There are three modes. There is a one-day practical examination in which the students get to prepare at their ease in the workshop. They undertake a project over a prescribed period of three months, or ten to 15 weeks, I am not sure of the exact period off the top of my head, and then they have a written examination. Most of the questions in that written examination are couched in a form that is situational. They are not framed such that they are a test of a student's memory. They are framed in the form of what would the student do if, etc. If students are able to answer those, they must know what they are talking about. I do not want to take up all the time as other people want to contribute. I will leave it at responding to those two items. The advice I would give students the night before an examination, as I have done on radio, is not to cram all information from their notes but to get a good night’s sleep. Students need to have sharp wits to do well in examinations. They do not need the ability to recall so much. There is not so much of that required any more. If students want to get good marks in their leaving certificate, they must understand what they are doing.