Olwyn Enright (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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Question 107: To ask the Minister for Education and Science when standardised testing will be introduced at primary level; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [34208/06]

Michael Noonan (Limerick East, Fine Gael)
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Question 157: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the ages at which standardised testing at primary level will take place; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [34210/06]

Dan Neville (Limerick West, Fine Gael)
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Question 210: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the position with regard to the introduction of standardised testing at primary level; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [34212/06]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 107, 157 and 210 together.

The National Council for Curriculum and Assessment, in its advice submitted to me in April 2005, recommends that the practice of standardised testing which is currently well established in primary schools should be built upon and that all pupils should be tested in literacy and numeracy at the end of first or beginning of second class and at the end of fourth or beginning of fifth class.

I fully agree with the NCCA's advice since I believe that standardised testing, carried out on a systematic basis, has great potential to enhance the quality of teaching and learning for our pupils at classroom level, and to provide valuable information for parents about their children's learning.

However, to reap the full benefits of standardised testing, it is essential that a range of supports are put in place for teachers and parents in advance of introducing a requirement on schools to conduct tests.

In that context, the NCCA is preparing guidelines which will assist schools in developing and implementing a policy on assessment practice in classrooms and on reporting to parents. These will be available during the 2006/07 school year.

The NCCA is also developing guidelines in specific subjects which will provide teachers with information on what to assess in individual subjects of the Primary School Curriculum and how to use assessment information to plan for children's future learning in that subject.

A national report card for recording and reporting data on pupils' attainment to parents is also being developed by the NCCA. This will be piloted in a number of schools in the current school year and will be available to all schools in the following year.

Significant funding to support the initiative has been provided for in the current Estimates. Plans for inservice training to support assessment for learning are also being finalised at present. My intention is that we will proceed carefully but as quickly as possible to ensure that the recommendations proposed by the NCCA are implemented in a way that has positive benefits for children, parents, teachers and the system as a whole.

Seymour Crawford (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Question 108: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the number of schools that offer physics to leaving certificate level; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [34181/06]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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My Department publishes data on the number of schools offering each subject in it's annual Statistical Report. Although the report for the 2005/06 school year is still in preparation, I can provide the following provisional information to the Deputy.

In the 2005/06 school year there were 554 post-primary schools offering Physics as a subject in their Leaving Certificate Programme. Of these, 113 were Boys schools, 129 were Girls schools and 312 were Co-educational schools.

Significant progress has been made in a range of science areas including curricular reform, the provision of equipment grants to schools and the refurbishment of school laboratories.