Jim D'Arcy (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire arís. The major overhaul of the junior certificate replacing a once-off State examination with a school-based model of continuous assessment is welcome. I congratulate the Minister on his courage in going even further than most people expected with the process of reform. Speaking on RTE recently, the ESRI's Emer Smyth said that the variety of teaching methods and the new structures will result in teenagers engaging more with learning, particularly active learning, which has suffered due to the emphasis on rote learning and teaching to the test, as Senator Power said. These, unfortunately, can sometimes be features of teaching and learning.

In addition, research has shown that a significant number of first year students do not make progress, particularly in English and mathematics, a number of students in second year become disengaged and third year is about the examinations. I have previously stated in the House regarding assessment that "You don't fatten a pig by weighing it every day" but, nevertheless, strategic assessment on a continuous basis can only assist the student in the terms outlined by the Minister not only as a certification but as a teaching and learning tool. It will provide essential information to students in this regard but it will be necessary for the results to be communicated and explained in real time to them in order that they can become the main agents of their own education, which is one of the great aims of education, and not be perceived as barbarians at the gates of knowledge, as The Iliad famously described it.

There is nothing to fear from teachers assessing their own students. It occurs already with the teacher assessing the student every minute of every school day. It happens in art up to leaving certificate level and in further education projects. As the Minister said, primary schools must assess students on a statutory basis in second, fourth and sixth classes.

With regard to literacy and numeracy, I was struck by the founding statement incorporated into the Minister's press release for the launch of the strategy on 8 July 2011: "A wide ranging new strategy aimed at ensuring that every child leaves school having mastered literacy and numeracy. It is the Governments belief that no child should leave school unable to read and write and use mathematics to solve problems". That is the key and ambitious targets have been set.

I would like to tell two stories. Years ago one of my football team colleagues was getting married on a Saturday.

He came to me during training on Tuesday and asked me to get someone to teach him to read because his future wife did not know that he could not read. I could not get him reading before Saturday but I introduced him to the adult education reading officer. These anecdotes happened so long ago that the people cannot be traced. Another friend was working on a farm in Meath and was told to drive the tractor home. Instead of driving to Dundalk, he drove to Dublin because he was afraid to ask and he could not read the signposts. We do not want this to happen in modern Ireland.

Two questions on junior certificate reform were asked of me last night. I refer to quality assurance with regard to the recognition of school-based exams. I know the answer I expect but the person who asked it would like to hear the Minister's views. What is to stop teachers inflating results in the exams? Some time ago, we heard there would be only eight subjects for the junior certificate but this measure changes the process.

Whereas the National Association of Principals and Deputy Principals has warmly welcomed the move, the ASTI and the TUI have expressed reservations about the level of consultation. I ask the Minister to comment.