NCCA criticises revised marking scheme for Irish
In a confidential report, the NCCA has warned that new Junior and Leaving Certificate exams place too much emphasis on oral Irish.
In an announcement last May, the then Minister for Education Mary Hanafin ruled that 40 per cent of marks in Junior and Leaving Cert Irish exams would be allocated to the oral component of the subject. This would apply from next year in the case of the Junior Cert and from 2012 in the case of the Leaving Cert.
However, a recent NCCA (National Council for Curriculum and Assessment) report says there are no examples anywhere in the world of such a weighting being applied in the case of a major exam such as the Leaving Cert.
The report also points out that the increase in the oral component - from 20 to 40 per cent in the Junior Cert and from 25 to 40 per cent in the Leaving Cert - will also involve a reduction in the aural component, an area in which weaker students had traditionally achieved well.
"The oral assessment component, which involves the assessment of more demanding productive language skills, is one where the same category of students has usually achieved less well.
"There is concern, therefore, from an equality perspective, that as a result of the changes, students with lower levels of proficiency in language learning will perform less well," says the report, drawn up by the NCCA Course Committee for Leaving Cert Irish.
The report suggests that the aural component would get a stronger rating. At present the Leaving Cert aural test is worth 16.6 per cent at higher level and 20 per cent at ordinary level. The Department intends to change this to 10 per cent but the NCCA committee favours 17 per cent. At foundation level, the aural component at present is worth 30 per cent and this will be cut to 20 per cent. The NCCA committee favours 27 per cent.
The report also states that the increased emphasis on oral skills will necessitate changes to the content of the current syllabus, and some content will need to be removed.
While the report sets out how the changes can be made, it makes clear that the committee favours a less radical revision, while still placing a lot of emphasis on oral skills. (Source: Irish Independent)