Mr. Dalton Tattan:

I thank the Chair and members of the committee for the invitation to attend today to discuss the important issue of leaving certificate reform. I am an assistant Secretary General in the Department of Education. My responsibilities include curriculum and assessment policy, which incorporate senior cycle reform. I am joined by a number of Department colleagues today: Ms Anne Tansey, national director of the National Educational Psychological Service, NEPS; Ms Orlaith O’Connor, assistant chief inspector of schools in the Department’s inspectorate; and principal officers in the curriculum and assessment policy area, Mr. Eamonn Moran, Ms Evelyn O’Connor and Mr. Neville Kenny.

The National Council for Curriculum and Assessment, NCCA, carried out a review of senior cycle between 2016 and 2020, leading to an advisory report that was submitted to the Minister and Department for consideration in late May this year. The NCCA review involved a very broad range of research, consultations and communications with a wide variety of stakeholders on all aspects of review and redevelopment over a number of phases during the period of the review. In particular, teachers, students and parents in a representative cross section of schools nationwide took part in the review of the existing senior cycle. Individuals and organisations, including students and student representative organisations, were also invited to participate in a public consultation process. The NCCA also commissioned external expertise to support the process, including the ESRI and the OECD. The richness of the perspectives from all of the various stakeholders has fed into the advisory report produced by the NCCA.

In its letter of invitation, the committee highlighted a number of topics in the context of leaving certificate reform which I will comment on briefly. First, on assessment options, many subjects, particularly those whose specifications have been most recently updated and those which are newly introduced subjects such as physical education and computer science, already have such components. Some 62% of subjects now incorporate at least one assessment component additional to the traditional terminal examination. It is, however, accepted that a number of core and popular subjects taken by significant numbers of students do not incorporate any additional assessment component and that for many subjects which do have one there still remains a strong emphasis on the final written examination. How best to both spread the assessment burden and do so in a way that allows for a demonstration of a fuller range of skills while maintaining standards, integrity, trust and confidence in our leaving certificate needs to be explored as we go forward.

On digital learning, the committee will be aware that earlier this year the Minister, Deputy Foley announced an extensive consultation process to help inform the development of the new digital strategy for schools. This is intended as a successor to the previous digital strategy which saw more than €200 million invested in the embedding of digital technologies across teaching, learning and assessment. The Department, in consultation with the NCCA, now ensures that all new and revised curricular specifications include clear statements that focus on the development of digital learning skills and the use of digital technologies as a resource in achieving specific outcomes across the curriculum.

In terms of access, equality and well-being supports, significant resources are provided to schools to assist them in supporting students with special educational needs and those at risk of educational disadvantage. Senior cycle development will need to ensure that the offering for students in their final years of schooling is genuinely inclusive and engaging for all.

While acknowledging that higher and further education policy matters are first and foremost for the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, it is vital that the senior cycle experience appropriately prepares students for the next stage in their lives, be that education, training, work or something else. Developments in curriculum, teaching, learning and assessment will need to be informed by needs in society and how best we support students to realise their potential. Creating varied opportunities for learning within schools and working with our sister Department to explore greater diversity in pathways beyond school will be a vital part of this. Recognising the place and importance of the Irish language is also an important area receiving attention. As committee members will know, the NCCA consultation on new draft specifications for leaving certificate Irish is ongoing.

Obviously, subsequent to the completion of the bulk of the NCCA's work on the senior cycle, the pandemic hit and the Department and the State Examinations Commission had to respond to the challenges it created for the leaving certificate. Despite concern about providing marks in respect of their students, teachers and principals carried out this task with enormous professionalism and with a deep commitment to public service. Equally, the decisions taken by the Government in those years was motivated by serving the best interests of students and the desire to ensure they could progress into the next stage of their lives without delay. There are lessons from this experience which may well be valuable to us in future but it is important to emphasise that the arrangements in 2020 and again this year were put in place specifically as a response to emergency circumstances that applied at the time.

There is much in the current system that works well and which can and should have a place in any redeveloped senior cycle as we go forward. The leaving certificate has continued to evolve during its lifetime. Examples of this include the introduction of new subjects, updating specifications for existing subjects, the introduction of new assessment components and widening the breadth of curricular languages. The senior cycle experience is also characterised by more challenging aspects, including stress experienced by students, overdependence on a terminal exam in June and a need to provide students with an opportunity to demonstrate their learning in different ways. In the context of senior cycle reform, how can we deal with these aspects while also maintaining confidence in State exams?

In seeking to address the topics highlighted by the committee and others, the complexity involved in seeking to implement reform should be acknowledged. There is undoubtedly a strong desire for change but how some of the challenges associated with senior cycle can be best addressed is often hotly debated. Issues such as the nature and modes of assessment, subject choice, transition year, provision for students with special educational needs, access, design of supports and resources for teachers and reporting beyond leaving certificate results are just some of the myriad, interlinked and complex topics that need to be considered. These, and more, are the challenges that are receiving attention as we advance our consideration of the senior cycle advisory report by the NCCA. We need to consider carefully how the Government responds to the report, what development work should look like and how best to support its implementation. My colleagues and I are happy to respond to questions that the committee may have.