The current crop of first years students at Second Level education institutions will be the last in the country to sit the Junior Certificate exams, it has been revealed.
From September, incoming secondary school students will study for the JCSA – Junior Cycle Student Award.
Education Minister Ruairi Quinn today unveiled the details of the new programme, which is designed to “put students, rather than exams at the centre of the three year cycle”.
Acknowledging concerns voiced by teachers about how these changes will be introduced, the Minister said that a new Working Group on Junior Cycle Reform will meet for the first time this Friday, 17th of January. He added; “This working group will be a forum where the concerns of the partners can be heard and addressed over the next number of months and years.”
The group will comprise of representatives the ASTI and TUI, management bodies, parents, the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment and the Department of Education and Skills.
The Minister said that there was evidence the current system is failing some young students, saying that “significant numbers of first years do not make progress in the key building blocks of learning: English and Maths”.
“The new JCSA will address these problems and ensure students become informed teenagers and citizens with the tools to achieve their full potential”, he added.
