Mr. Paul Crone:

I was a STEM teacher of woodwork and construction studies and that is how we operated. To be fair to the technology subjects in the current leaving certificate, there are projects and practical examinations and there are the written theory exams. In some subjects 50% or 60% of the course, for example, in construction studies, is assessed through continuous assessment. I would be strongly in favour of that.

When looking at the STEM subjects and the practical and skills base, this is what can be done. One needs a certain level of knowledge to be able to manipulate the information and exercise those skills, but it is about the skills. I am not undermining knowledge because that too is needed too but one needs more than knowledge retention. One needs to be able to analyse, synthesise and exercise the skills one has learned.