Ms Joanne Irwin:

I also attended the launch of the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment review of the senior cycle examination and wish to disclose a conflict of interest by declaring that I am a member of that council.

In respect of any review by the NCCA of the senior cycle examination, the TUI is concerned that there be teacher buy-in from the start because teachers will operate any reform. In May, a sample of either 40 or 50 schools will be selected by management to conduct research on the current senior cycle and the existing programmes. The TUI has clearly told the NCCA that teachers in those schools must be consulted about whether they want to be part of the scheme. There are schools that want to participate but management has not selected them. Also, the schools selected must include disadvantaged schools, mixed education schools, girls' schools and must include schools in regions as far away as north Donegal and as close as city centre Dublin. The research must include all aspects otherwise the findings will not truly reflect the current situation.

On the issue of continuous assessment, the TUI is concerned that breaking up assessment points would not reduce stress for students. When I hear the term "continuous assessment" I think, from the perspective of further education, that it is a lot of assessment. For example, I deliver a level 4 module on the Qualifications and Quality Assurance, QQI, framework that has 14 assessments. Therefore, when we hear the term, "continuous assessment", we think that will mean 14 pieces of work for one subject. If one practical element takes place at one time of the year, as mentioned by Deputy McLoughlin, then that is very different. I agree with Mr. Hassan that we need to define what is meant by continuous assessment. Again, I repeat that it must be externally assessed by the State Examinations Commission.

It also is important to consider the current assessment timetable in schools, which is extremely busy at present. One will not get an holistic picture of what students experience by analysing the timetable for one subject because most students study ten subjects at junior cycle. I agree that we need examinations to take place on a phased basis. One should not schedule the assessments for home economics and materials technology or woodwork at the same time, as that would increase stress. Recently, we analysed the timetable for assessments as part of the new junior cycle when the programme was fully embedded and included all of the subjects. We discovered that assessment takes place nearly every month. One must be mindful of the increased workload generated by classroom-based assessment from the point of view of school management, teachers and students. If one is teaching two or three subjects and if there is classroom-based assessment, that will increase both teacher workload and stress for students. All of those aspects must be taken into consideration.