Mr. Dalton Tattan:

I thank the Deputy for those questions. On the approach adopted in 2022 and whether it should be the same as in 2021, I would not agree with the Deputy. I do not believe there is the same level of disruption now as was experienced. Students doing the leaving certificate examination in 2021 had a period from March until the end of May in fifth year in which there was very little provision because everybody was so caught by the pandemic when it hit first. The experience from January until March earlier this year was far better, and schools were far more able to move to support their students with remote learning, and they were more agile in this regard. We have made adjustments, which we announced at the end of June. The information was issued to schools at the beginning of the school year. There was some level of adjustment in respect of the examination papers in recognition of the fact there was some disruption, and there was some contingency built in.

On the teacher supply issue, we have allowed full-time teachers to work additional hours to fill gaps where schools might experience them. As of now, we are certainly not talking about an early closure of schools before Christmas, nor are we talking about a deferred opening of schools after Christmas in the new year.

We expect schools to run as normal up to Christmas week and to reopen in early January. That is our expectation and we do not have a particular reason at the moment to view that differently. We are certainly not getting advice about it that would push us in a different direction.

The Deputy asked how fundamentally the leaving certificate has changed since the mid-1990s. My strong sense is it has not radically changed. We have sought to do some things and I mentioned some of the new subjects where we have made a conscious effort to build in additional assessment components, including subjects such as physical education, PE, that have assessment components in addition to the final exam. Where we had opportunities coming along with new subjects or where updated specifications were being prepared, the NCCA really tried to ensure they have other forms of assessment in order that different competences in the same subject area can be demonstrated in different ways and we think that is the fairest sort of system. We would like that to continue and grow. There are other subjects at the moment, such as the three science subjects, that the NCCA is working on. Consideration will be given to including an additional assessment component for them. In subjects such as biology, physics or chemistry, there could be value in having assessment over and above a traditional exam.

Subject choice is certainly an issue and smaller schools in particular face having to make the best of the resources they have. What we have done in recent years is to add more subjects into the mix. It has become more difficult in one sense, given that students may wish to avail of subjects that are simply not on offer in their school. We owe it to students to try to find innovative ways to do that, and that has begun, in some ways. There are one or two cases where small schools have used technology as a way to leverage expertise in order that students can link in remotely. As we know from the experience of the pandemic, it is not completely the same as being physically there, but it is a way to use the expertise effectively and in a way that gives students access to a subject they think is important.

On the junior cycle, I might hand to Mr. Moran in case he has the statistics the Deputy asked about in regard to history and geography. The junior cycle reform was a hard experience and was felt as such in the Department too. Even so, having talked to teachers who have been through it and experienced it, we have found there are many aspects they really like. For example, they like the subject learning and assessment review, SLAR, meetings where they have an opportunity to meet colleagues and discuss what is happening in their classroom and their students' work. They feel there are ways for them to improve their practice and learn from one another, which is a key aspect of what we wanted to get out of it. Through measures such as classroom-based assessment, there have been opportunities for students to demonstrate learning in different ways and to engage differently in the subject material rather than simply sitting an exam. In the context of that and of other issues such as accredited or calculated grades, there are some interesting points we could draw on in the context of the senior cycle.