Sean Barrett (Independent)

According to a recent report, the high percentage of so-called out-of-field teachers is having an adverse effect on the achievement of second level students in mathematics. Another effect is the pressure these heads have put on language departments. I gather they have shut down more than they have opened up in recent times but we need more foreign language expertise in the country.

I am concerned about continuous assessment. From where is progress continuously assessed? At third level it has been scaled back because it depends on whose father or uncle had the best website for downloading purposes. I make the point as a message of caution. There have been many ill-advised comments from outside bodies such as those I have mentioned. Too little time is spent in the classroom and too little of the budget is spent in the classroom, especially at third level. Let us make it people-centred as the Minister intends and let us not write off rote learning entirely either. I imagine Frank Lloyd Wright passed all his examinations and then became the creative person the Minister greatly admires. There is a list of things that people should be able for such as meaningful learning and sociological understanding but it requires some foundation, much of which comes from hard work and learning. Mathematics is hard work and foreign languages are difficult subjects and we cannot ignore this in the passage of any reform. I welcome the Minister and I wish him well in his endeavours.