Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

In the programme for Government, we made literacy a national cause and committed to reforming what students experience in the first three years in post-primary school, that is, between the ages of 12 and 15. I am pleased to be present to outline to Senators the progress that has been made to date. I am very anxious to hear the views of Senators on these reforms and the progress we have made.

In July 2011, I launched Literacy and Numeracy for Learning and Life, the national strategy to improve literacy and numeracy among children and young people. I said then that I believe passionately that literacy and numeracy are among the most important life skills our schools teach. These skills are fundamental to a person's life chances. The strategy aims to ensure that no child should leave school without having mastered the skills to the best of his or her ability. The strategy is of considerable importance. The connection between the development of the strategy and Ireland's disappointing performance in the PISA 2009 results has been made by many, including me. While PISA may have been a shock to the system, information had been available for some time to show there is much room for improvement in the teaching and learning of literacy and numeracy in Ireland.

Let me recall some of the evidence for the House. The national assessments of English reading and mathematics have consistently shown considerable weaknesses in the teaching of mathematics. Second, the inspectorate of the Department has raised concerns about various aspects of the quality of the teaching of English and mathematics in a number of reports. Third, persistent concerns have been raised about mathematics, especially the relatively poor ability of Irish students to apply mathematical ideas to practical circumstances. Last and most worrying, we know from the work of the Educational Research Centre, based in St. Patrick's College, Drumcondra, that certain groups of young people, such as children in disadvantaged communities, particularly boys, are not acquiring even the most basic literacy skills, as they should.

When we tackle problems in literacy and numeracy, we are also tackling inequality. To fail to do so is to deny many young people the opportunity to participate fully in society. Literacy and numeracy unlock many doors for young people. First, they unlock the door to a full and rounded education, which in turn unlocks the door to a fulfilling and rewarding working life. They unlock the door to full participation in social, cultural and community life. When these doors are unlocked, they simply cannot be closed again. We know they will remain open not just for today's young people, but also for their children and their children's children. The benefits do not stop with the individual. Mastering the skills of literacy and numeracy brings with it a host of social, cultural and health benefits for society as a whole.

They are also the core skills which enable young people take on the challenge of higher order learning and research that make modern economies competitive.

The strategy adopts a modern and comprehensive definition of literacy and acknowledges that this includes oral language and all forms of written and printed communication from handwriting to even digital literacy. Young people need engagement with a wide range of contexts in developing their literacy. This means that we do not narrow the curriculum in pursuit of a mechanical reading proficiency. Literacy is not the preserve of language lessons and this is something that also underpins our reform of junior cycle.

Mathematics also needs context. Often our students can perform mechanical operations such as equations and various other mathematical puzzles but they are unable to apply these skills to real-life situations. We face a considerable challenge to develop a much broader understanding and ability to use mathematics in the way this strategy sets out.

The strategy sets out how we must tackle literacy and numeracy standards through a comprehensive and balanced set of actions in each area of the educational system. It sets out a radical programme of change in areas such as: teacher education and teachers' continuing professional development; curriculum change; how principals and teachers focus on the literacy and numeracy skills of their students; how principals, teachers, schools and the educational system monitor students' progress in a balanced and educationally sound way; how we respond to the learning needs of individuals; how we evaluate the work of schools; and the strategy also acknowledges the central role of parents and how we need to support them as they help their children to learn.

Implementation of the strategy has been prioritised in the Department and in the time since the launch we have seen real progress in implementation of the measures it contains. Reconfigured and extended bachelor of education programmes for primary teaching began in September 2012. The Teaching Council is in the process of reviewing reconfigured bachelor of education programmes for the post-primary sector. These reforms involve real and significant change in initial teacher education which will allow for an increased focus on pedagogy in literacy and numeracy and classroom practice. In effect, the three-year course for primary school teachers will be extended to four with a focus on pedagogic skills and the traditional HDip will now take two years rather than one year.

We are fortunate in Ireland that entrants to teacher education are among the most talented and high achieving of our school leavers. Initial teacher education must supply this high quality cohort with the tools they need to become highly-effective teachers. I have put in place a team of literacy and numeracy advisers to support the teachers already in our schools. Their mandate is to help teachers and schools to implement the strategy and a national programme of professional development for primary and second level teachers is well under way.

For beginning teachers, the national teacher induction programme provides for both literacy and numeracy support. All primary schools have been asked to increase the time spent on mathematics by 70 minutes per week, and to increase the time spent on literacy by one hour per week. Post-primary schools have been asked to endeavour to ensure that students have access to mathematics and English classes every day. I have also introduced standardised testing in English reading and mathematics, and Irish reading for Irish medium schools, so that pupils are tested at the end of second, fourth and sixth class, that is at the ages of eight, ten and 12. Additional funding has been provided to schools to support this. The results of the tests are reported to parents as part of an overall standardised report on their children's learning. There are also aggregated reports to school boards of management and to the Department on overall performance in these tests.

This is a balanced approach to assessment which will avoid some of the mistakes made in other jurisdictions on these two islands. National policy and strategy is important but it is school communities that can make a real difference for their students. I want to empower schools and school leadership in particular to continually improve the teaching and learning experience. This philosophy is evident in our new approach to school self-evaluation and I encourage all parents, teachers, school principals and boards of management to use these new processes to deliver the very best for our young people.

How schools inform and engage with parents is critical but parents need other sources of support and information as well. I was delighted, therefore, to recently launch a new website developed by the National Adult Literacy Agency under the banner of the strategy.

I was delighted therefore to launch recently a new website developed by the National Adult Literacy Agency under the banner of the strategy. The website, helpmykidlearn.ie, contains a range of age-appropriate practical activities and information for parents seeking to support their children's literacy and numeracy development. The role of parents in this area must be constantly reiterated and reinforced, not just for those parents who already are converted, but with those parents who for whatever reason believe they do not have the confidence or competence to be of help.

Members will be aware the strategy emphasises the importance of reform at junior cycle level. As they are aware, this also has been advanced and today, I wish to provide them with an overview of the changes in the junior cycle and what they will mean for the learning of our young people and I look forward to the response of Members and the dialogue that will ensue. First, I will outline the reasons change is necessary. In late 2011, the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment, NCCA, advised me on making changes at junior cycle. Research underlines the reasons change is necessary. Under the current model, a significant number of first-year students do not make progress, particularly in English and mathematics. Second, a significant number of students in second year become disengaged from the learning process and find it almost impossible to reconnect to learning subsequently. Third, choices made as early as the first year of junior cycle, for example to take ordinary level rather than higher level, are almost impossible to reverse and may limit the options open to young people for their leaving certificate programme and on leaving school. This is a particularly important issue for students in lower stream classes and those in schools serving areas of disadvantage. Fourth, in third year, the junior certificate examination dominates the experience of students. The focus of learning narrows considerably, the emphasis is on rote learning and for many students, the examination does not lead to positive learning experiences and outcomes. Members should not forget that in that mix, there also are the mock examinations in and around Easter time, which cost a small fortune for some parents.

I will now turn to the framework for junior cycle. I have accepted the NCCA's advice, set out in its document, Towards a Framework for Junior Cycle. If Members would like to read it, copies of the framework are available and I strongly urge them to familiarise themselves with it. The approach of the NCCA was developed following an extensive consultation process with parents, students, teachers, school managers and the wider public. It set out new vision, values and principles for the junior cycle. Having studied these carefully and having had extensive debates and discussions within the Department, I personally endorse fully these principles. I welcome that the syllabus designed for each subject will set out both the knowledge to be acquired and the skills and attitudes students will develop. The syllabus will be accompanied by detailed examples of how students should be able to demonstrate their learning in order that teachers will be supported fully in enabling students to achieve the objectives of the curriculum. I welcome the aspects of the proposed curriculum that will allow schools the flexibility to design their own junior cycle programme. This will empower schools in an unprecedented way to meet the interests and needs of their students and to relate more effectively to the community in which they are situated. I believe this is how we can accommodate difference in our society and how we can begin to address the real problem of inequality in our society, which remains rampant. I also am happy to accept the recommendations with regard to short courses and priority learning units for students with special education needs. I am convinced that all the elements of the framework proposed by the NCCA represent a huge development for second level education in Ireland.

I will now turn to the issue of assessment. Given the evidence now available to me, I have decided to go further. In the junior certificate, we currently have a State examination that has all the arrangements and hallmarks of a high-stakes examination. However, as long ago as 1975, an official report commented that for "a large and increasing number of candidates, [the State examination at the end of the junior cycle] is not necessary or indeed useful as a qualification for jobs". The examination referred to was the intermediate certificate, which was replaced by the junior certificate examination but the question is more relevant than ever. The overwhelming majority of students completing junior cycle go on to study at senior cycle or in other forms of education and training.

Our percentage figures are among the highest in Europe.

The junior certificate is no longer a high stakes examination. For this reason, it no longer serves the educational needs of every young person. Real change only occurs when there is real change in assessment. This is what all of the evidence has been telling us for several years. The influence of assessment on how teachers and students engage with curricula and learning is well documented, not just in Ireland, but across the globe. The learning experience is narrowed if an assessment system is restricted to measuring students through external examinations and testing. When the experience is narrowed, teachers and students focus on learning what is necessary to do well in final examinations. They stop pursuing an educational programme that is designed to meet students' needs. I hope we will have a good discussion on this phenomenon.

The best performing educational systems have placed the assessment of learning at the lower secondary education level in the hands of schools, teachers and students. For this reason, we need to reform radically the way we assess students' learning in the junior cycle. I want to liberate our teachers from the narrow exam-based programmes to which many of them are prisoners. I want them to fulfil their potential as leaders of education learning. I want to put students at the heart of this change and give them the opportunity to develop all of their skills and talents fully. To achieve this, we must ensure that assessment becomes a key part of teaching and learning across the three years of the junior cycle.

The opportunities for such approaches to assessment are no longer stressful where assessment is not high stakes. The focus of assessment will be on supporting learning. We are asking teachers to do in third year what they currently do in second and fifth years. In the next eight years, I will phase out the traditional junior certificate examination in its current form. Students, rather than subject examinations, will be at the centre of the new approach to assessment.

What exactly will this new form of assessment look like? The junior certificate examination will be replaced with a school-based model of assessment. The shape of this has been covered extensively in the media, but I want to outline to Senators my vision of how the new assessment arrangements will work. They will embed assessment both for and of learning in the classroom and will involve schools and teachers in ongoing assessment of students' progress and achievement. Clear and unambiguous guidance for teachers on standards will be provided in each syllabus. This will guide the assessment of student progress and enable teachers to chart the next steps for each student's learning.

Assessment at the end of the junior cycle will be completed by the school and will be based on evidence of learning coming from school work and a final written assessment. The school work component will be based on work completed by the student during second and third years and will be marked by the teacher in the school using a marking guide included in the specification for the subject. Generally, it will be worth approximately 40% of the marks awarded to the student. The kinds of work involved will include assignments, projects, case studies, performances, oral activities, written pieces and tests of different kinds. Schools may use developments such as e-portfolios to enhance the changes that this school work component can provide. To support this, I have already convened an education and industry group to advise on how ICT can be used to enhance the junior cycle experience at school level. The final assessment component will be a single written paper or assignment and will represent 60% of the marks.

In the first few years of implementation, the papers will be set by the State Examinations Commission, SEC, but administered and, for the most part, corrected by teachers as part of their assessment of students. In the case of English, Irish and mathematics, the papers will also be corrected by the SEC for an introductory transitional period. Schools will continue to use materials provided by the SEC.

The primary purpose of the certification at the end of junior cycle will be to support learning during the three years. We must move beyond examinations to a process of generating evidence of learning and of sharing feedback.

This is not a cost saving exercise but about ensuring that we do better.

I will secure the necessary resources to bring this vision to fruition from within my overall budget allocation. I will ensure that schools, their principals and teachers will be provided with the necessary professional support to enable them to implement the framework from 2013 and 2014. The National Council for Curriculum and Assessment, NCCA, will begin to develop curriculum, standards and supports immediately. The State Examinations Commission has begun planning for its phased withdrawal from junior cycle examinations.

The changes being implemented through the literacy and numeracy strategy and through the reform of junior cycle will make a dramatic and real difference to students in our schools. The measures will help students from all walks of life to realise their full potential. The skills and abilities of our young people are the key to Ireland's success in future, and our young people can only fully realise their entire potential if we give them the tools they need. The reforms I have started to implement are the way to go.