COMMENT

Is Ruairi Quinn’s plan to end the formal Junior Cert exam a good idea? After witnessing the scenes of jubilation in one secondary school last week, I’m not so sure.

A major overhaul of the Junior Cert will see the exam phased out over the next few years, with a stronger emphasis on continuous assessment by teachers. There is certainly merit to the proposal in that a student’s performance over the course of three years will be taken into account. After all, even good students can have a bad day at exam time or end up with below par grades due to nerves.

But the fact remains that there are no plans at present to abolish the Leaving Certificate, leading to the same concerns about judging academic ability on exam results alone.

Sitting the Junior Cert is a rite of passage; a pivotal moment in a young person’s life. It is their first real experience of the pressures of a State exam.

It’s a valuable way of taking a student’s intellectual temperature mid-way through the secondary school cycle. Where do their weaknesses lie? Should they stick with higher-level subjects? What subjects should they drop for the senior cycle?

In addition, it gives young people a taste of personal responsibility and accountability. Those who work hard will generally be rewarded with good Junior Cert results; those who don’t will need to reassess their study habits.

I saw firsthand last week the sense of achievement, relief and euphoria etched on the faces of a group of teenage girls as Junior Cert results were handed out. There were tears (mainly of joy), hugs and words of encouragement from parents and teachers.

This feel good factor derived from the Junior Cert experience will stand these students in good stead for the final leg of the journey to the big exam.

For all the merits of scrapping the Junior Certificate in favour of continuous assessment, I couldn’t help thinking last week that perhaps it’s an issue that warrants further discussion. For starters, we could seek the opinions of some of the 60,000 students who received their results last Wednesday.