Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

It is accepted by those employed in the education sector that rote learning should be discouraged. For this reason, I welcome the move away from high-stakes State examinations at primary and junior certificate levels. However, the proposed changes must the first element of a broader reform of education. I ask the Minister whether he has considered further reform given that the cohort of students who will benefit from the revised junior certificate under whatever title it will be given will still face a high-stakes State examination by rote learning when they sit the leaving certificate. The current reform should be the first of two elements of a reform package. Will the Minister consider this matter in the overall scheme? Students, like all of us, may have a bad day and the most important examination in their life - the leaving certificate which will determine where they will go - should not be entirely based on rote learning, as is currently the case.

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