Richard O'Donoghue (Limerick County, Independent Ireland Party)
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89. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if her attention has been drawn to the recent publication of the new specification for the senior cycle engineering subject; and if she will commit to the introduction of a second additional assessment component (practical skills test) in senior-cycle engineering, given that 89% of engineering teachers are in favour of its introduction. [31421/25]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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Senior Cycle Redevelopment will ensure that we can equip every student with the skills and competencies they need to succeed in a rapidly changing world. A key element of the redevelopment programme is the introduction of additional assessment components that are not traditional written examinations, where students can earn at least 40% of the final available marks. I hope that this important change can reduce the pressure felt by students by moving away from a single, final exam worth 100% of the marks. Senior Cycle Redevelopment will build on the 28 existing Leaving Certificate subjects which have coursework or other types of assessment components that are not written examinations already included.

The Deputy may wish to note that the recently published draft subject specifications were published for the purpose of conducting a public consultation in line with the standard approach of the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA).

That consultation was concluded in early May and, following consideration of the feedback from the consultation, I understand the Engineering Subject Development Group (SDG) has recently completed the draft specification and submitted it to the NCCA Board for Senior Cycle.

I further understand that the Board for Senior Cycle considered the draft specification at its meeting last week and that it has now been submitted to the NCCA Council, ahead of its meeting on 19 June. If approved by the Council, the draft specification will be submitted to me as Minister, for my consideration and approval. Provided it is approved, the final specification will then be published.

Subject Development Group membership includes subject matter experts, as well as representation from education stakeholders, including those in the tertiary sector. Membership specifically includes teachers, including those nominated as subject experts by the teacher unions and in this case the Engineering Technology Teachers' Association. The NCCA engages in a robust multi-phase public consultation as the specifications in any subject are developed. This includes going out for public consultation on the subject background papers and briefs which guide the development work, as well as on the final draft specifications themselves.

The nature of Additional Assessment Components in each subject is agreed upon by the Subject Development Group in line with any applicable policy directions and subject specific considerations. As stated in the published Background Paper, while typically there should be two assessment components in each subject (one written examination and one other assessment component); there may be exceptions to this that are justified after extensive consideration. It was open to the Engineering Subject Development Group to submit such a case to my Department for consideration. I am advised that the Group did discuss whether a second Additional Assessment Components would be proposed, however, no such case was put forward by the Group. Given the representative nature of, and subject expertise available to, the subject development process I do not believe it would be appropriate for me in this case to impose a further assessment component.