Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)

Yes. The literacy and numeracy strategy is being rolled out and is part and parcel of broader reform. The curriculum does not function in isolation. It will take time and resources to implement reform.

In regard to the points system, in my innocence, I was two months in office before I realised the points system is not part of the education system as we know it. Rather, it is owned and controlled by the universities. Senator Mary Moran talked about honours and pass levels. We intend to simplify the grades at junior cycle so that the examination no longer functions as a mock leaving certificate. If one asks a student how he or she has done in the junior certificate, one will be told what has been achieved in terms of leaving certificate points. It is like a simulated leaving certificate.

The final part of the process of reform must be to open up the constraints of the second level curriculum by reviewing the points system. I advise Senators to read Professor Áine Hyland's paper at transition.ie, where she shows that the number of university courses available through the CAO application process has exploded by 300% in recent years. The system is being used by universities to attract high-level points and to boast that access to a particular course requires 550 points or whatever. We can change that. One of the recommendations that came out of the conference in UCD in September was to look to a system such as that in the University of Melbourne in Australia, where all first year students now take one of eight foundation courses. If one wishes to study science, arts, finance or whatever, one takes the appropriate foundation course before proceeding to a more specialised choice after the first year. UCD already does this in the case of engineering with students taking a common course in first year before specialising in chemical, electronic or civil engineering.

Such a system removes pressure from students and prevents the disastrous consequences of pupils filling out the CAO form in February of sixth year, when they are 16 or 17 years old. Evidence shows that where students attain only their second or subsequent choice, the probability of them dropping out is very high. Most of us are of an age to recall when men who thought they had a vocation realised within weeks of joining a seminary that they were mistaken but did not tell their mothers for three years. Young people are understandably anxious when telling their parents that they made the wrong choice and do not like the course they are doing. Addressing that issue is part of the process of reform.

While I appreciate that the focus of the discussion was on the question of liberating the first three years of secondary education, that reform is not happening on its own. Rather, it fits into the continuum of reform to which I referred. I thank Senators for their contributions.