Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE) | Oireachtas source

That the Minister would say this is very different and there are significant changes speaks to a profound lack of vision by the Government because the basis of the system is exactly the same. For students, their perception of how they are going to do in their leaving certificate all rests on one or two exams in subjects including maths, English and Irish, in the oral and the aural exams. The Department is tinkering around the edges in terms of exactly what is on the exam papers but that is it. All the pressure builds up onto those couple of weeks of exams at the end of 18 years of educational experience. The alternative is really clear. It is to open access to third level education, to put the investment in, to use the temporary and part-time staff that already exist in our third level institutions, to add the extra 25,000 places we need, to say we have open access to third level education, just as we currently have open access to second level education, and to do away with this unnecessary rat race.

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