Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

In general terms, we understand the concerns expressed by the Deputies. There is no intention whatsoever to move away from the model of interaction with parents and that kind of continual monitoring of the students' work and their interaction in the classroom and so on with teachers. We want to ensure we continue to have standardised testing in areas such as English reading, science and mathematics, so those standards are in place, and to have a set of guidelines in place to monitor the quality assurance aspect of this. We want to ensure guidelines on moderation, which will be confirmed by the principal. If there are any vagaries in the system, a mechanism will be put in place to monitor them and to ensure a data profile is set up, so that the national and the individual schools' profiles will be monitored. The results awarded in every school will be sent to the Department, so that there is a national monitoring system in place. It will also be subjected to national and international assessments and a full reporting mechanism will be put in place by 2017.

The concerns raised by the Deputies are being worked through the system in advance of the roll-out of the new junior cycle. The first one will be through English in 2014. There will be much learning from that experience in terms of how it will pan out. A significant amount of continuing professional development will be put in place for teachers not only on the pedagogy or the subject side, but also in terms of the modalities of the assessment. There is still some way to go on this.

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