Kathleen Funchion (Carlow-Kilkenny, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I have raised this issue because I believe that the current system is very unfair and inequitable. It is designed to be one size fits all. This is not the reality in the context of learning and education. Many Deputies will remember with dread the leaving certificate exam and the whole process around it. If we are considering reform of the leaving certificate programme we have an opportunity to make it real and meaningful. Continuous assessment is a common sense and practical aspect that could be introduced, alongside a life skills class with lessons in basic nutrition and mental health. These are basic skills that many people leave school not knowing how to do. It would be invaluable for students.

I wish to emphasise the whole area of continuous assessment. It is so unfair at the moment. A person studies for six years in second level school and then everything is based on a two week exam. If a student is having some difficulty or panics during exams, or if a student is sick for those two weeks, it can affect everything and there is no opportunity to repeat the leaving certificate later that summer. The student must wait a whole year and then go back though the whole system again. It is currently not fit for purpose and if we are talking about reform then we should make it real and meaningful.

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