New moves to improve Irish language standards, including more marks for the oral exam in the Leaving Cert, have been announced by Minister for Education and Science Mary Hanafin.
From 2012, the oral Irish exam in the Leaving Cert will account for 40 per cent of all marks, up from 25 per cent at present.
Marks for the aural exam will be reduced to 10 per cent at both higher and ordinary levels; this means the written element of the papers will be worth only 50 per cent of the marks.
There will be no change in the marking schemes for French and other foreign languages.
The package of measures is designed to boost standards of spoken Irish, amid concern that students are leaving second-level schools without being able to converse successfully in the language.
The new marking system will come into effect for students entering second level this September and will apply to those taking the Leaving Cert in 2012. The changes will also apply to the Junior Cert, where the oral examination is a school-based, optional exam.
In the case of the Junior Cert oral, the marks will be doubled, from 20 per cent to 40 per cent, from 2010.
At present, only a small number of schools organise the optional Junior Cert assessment, and where no oral exam is held, marks are awarded on the basis of the written paper and aural exam only.
Ms Hanafin said she would like to see more schools now consider the option of an oral exam in the Junior Cert, in the light of the increased marks available and by way of preparing students for the Leaving Cert.
The Leaving Cert oral exam lasts for some 10-15 minutes. In recent years, the State Exams Commission has found it difficult to recruit examiners for the orals, which take place during the run-in to the June exams.
Only some 12,000 students take higher-level Irish in the Leaving Cert, whereas 26,000 opt for the ordinary-level paper. In contrast nearly 20,000 took higher-level French and other languages.
The department has also raised concerns about the large number of high-achieving students who earn a grade D in ordinary-level Irish - the minimum entry level for many third-level colleges.
Announcing the reforms, Ms Hanafin - a former Irish teacher at Sion Hill, Blackrock, Co Dublin - said: "The central intention of this proposal is promote spoken Irish in post-primary schools. I want to ensure that spoken Irish is a feature in every classroom and that improvement in spoken Irish is addressed in every lesson."
Ms Hanafin also announced a wide range of supports, including:
A report on the possible use of information technologies, such as mobile phones or the internet, in oral assessment.
More in-service training for teachers.
Irish language summer camps for up to 600 primary school children from disadvantaged areas.
Last year, one expert report indicated that many students show a negative attitude to Irish, which is widely seen as being one of the most difficult exams in the Leaving Cert.
Leaving Cert changes
Percentage of marks for Leaving Cert higher level
At present
Oral: 25%
Aural: 16.7%
Written: 58.3%
From 2012
Oral: 40%
Aural: 10%
Written: 50%
