Aisling Dolan (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Today we have an announcement on the reform of the leaving certificate Equity and Excellence for All: where the student is at the centre of their Senior Cycle experience. We have seen that over the past year. We have seen the Irish Second-Level Students' Union being part of the process to decide how we do accredited grades the year before last and how we manage the leaving certificate. Today, the Minister for Education, Deputy Foley, announced measures to support students with this reform. I also acknowledge the former Minister for Education, Deputy Bruton, who initiated this review, and officials from the Department of Education and the State Examinations Commission, along with the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment, NCCA. There has been a body of work around this, including at the Joint Committee on Education, Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, which has been working on a report on leaving certificate reform. The first major change is 40% of exams will be by continuous assessment. That means only 60% of all subjects will be by written exam. It will support many students. It will be fantastic for students who do not feel at their best on the day of their exam to know that not 100% of their grade is riding on it. It also allows for a wider review of student skills to excel. There will be easier access to third level because if students are able to explore and do more practical assessments through continuous review, it means that there will be a lower level of drop out. Students will know more about the choices they want to make in terms of their career. Second, new curricula and subjects have been added to develop the arts and culture area as well as the climate crisis. Drama, film and theatre studies are being added to the curriculum. Another addition is climate action and sustainable development, which again will help to prepare students to deal with the climate change challenges ahead. New qualifications have also been added. There will be a new exam at junior cycle level for students with special educational needs. Even better, we will see a revised transition year programme and greater access for transition year students.This is important. I might highlight that at the Department of Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, the Minister, Deputy Harris, is currently running six pilots in secondary schools that are looking at doing pilots of apprenticeships. In other words, students are getting an opportunity in transition year to try out some of these apprenticeship programmes. We currently have about 64 apprenticeship programmes ongoing. This will be a fantastic way for students to get an opportunity to test these out.