TO BE HONEST: An unheard voice in education:I've put more than one child through the Junior Cert and I have one more waiting in the wings. I must admit that I am following the reform process with trepidation. All the talk about critical-thinking skills, continuous assessment and self-directed learning is, frankly, making me nervous.

None of my children is naturally inclined towards hard work. In fact, the phrase “he needs to apply himself” has become the refrain of every parent-teacher meeting I’ve ever attended. My husband and I often laugh about it – our children have all this potential but are somehow lacking the key to unlock it. Where did we go wrong?

The saviour in our case has been the structured exam system that has given us all something to work with. It provides a natural work scheme and clear set of objectives that we have used to keep our children “on task”. It’s a handy threat to wield when they’ve been too long on Facebook or too late coming from a friend’s house or generally disengaged: “You have your Junior Cert coming – get down to work.”

The fact that this exam is all but meaningless now in terms of a qualification is not really the point. They are young, their world is small – a State exam is a big deal. The “high stakes” aspect of the Junior Cert that everyone complains about has always been an advantage in our house. It keeps everyone focused. There’s a fear element which is actually an advantage.

If my children had not experienced the Junior Cert, they would have had little chance of negotiating the Leaving Cert. Having been through a structured and moderately pressured exam programme once, they were able to click back into the routine in fifth year, even after a soft and unfocused Transition Year programme.

The Junior Cert, as it stands, still serves a very important function in keeping kids at the books and preparing them for the Leaving Cert. No matter how we tweak the system, as long as there is a points race there will always be a high-stakes competitive exam at some stage. Is it right to lull our students into a false sense of security with a Junior Cert programme that takes the emphasis off exams only to hit them with a Leaving Cert that cannot be meaningfully reformed without a complete overhaul of the university admissions system? Proceed with caution, Minister.