The Minister for Education and Science said there would have to be "a look at the whole assessment issue" at Junior Certificate level as part of the current review of that programme.
Mr Martin said the Junior Certificate exam was not "the critical examination the Leaving Certificate is".
He conceded that second-level teachers' unions had long argued against in-school assessment of Junior Certificate work, and for the present reliance on an end-of-programme exam. Both the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment and the Department's chief inspector, Mr Eamon Stack, have argued for more inschool assessment.
He was not convinced that the arguments about the need to rely on a terminal Junior Certificate exam - notably that in-school assessment by teachers would be too subjective - were as valid as those for Leaving Certificate. He felt there was room for some movement and experimentation.
Science Education
In the context of the "steady, consistent decline" in recent years of students taking Leaving Certificate science subjects, the Minister said there was a need for more physics and chemistry teachers. This year, for the first time, there is a reserved quota on university higher diploma courses for teacher-training candidates offering physics and chemistry. He said part of the problem was the large number of science teachers whose qualifications were in biology.
He said the introduction of the new Leaving Certificate physics and chemistry syllabuses had been delayed because of the assessment issue. He had given instructions several months ago to proceed with them: teacher in-service training would proceed during the next 12 months and they would be introduced in September 2000. He stressed the need for girls, in particular, to feel happy doing science subjects.
Mr Martin said there would be an inventory next month of the condition of all second-level school science laboratories with a view to their comprehensive modernisation. He estimated that such a programme would cost up to £7 million over three years.
He was also considering additional capitation support for schools which put on specific science programmes.
The Points Commission
The Points Commission, under the chairmanship of Prof Aine Hyland, will be holding a number of regional public meetings next month and invites the public to make submissions. Prof Hyland intends to have an interim report ready in time for these public hearings.
Mr Martin said the commission had commissioned three high-quality research projects. First, it had engaged transition year students to research the views of Leaving Certificate students on the examination.
Second, it had carried out research on how good a predictor Leaving Certificate results were of subsequent performance at third level.
Third, it had researched subject choice: to what degree did students select their third-level courses on the basis of the points required rather than on what they really wanted to study?
Third Level Technicians
Mr Martin said one of the most innovative initiatives of his first year in office had been the recruitment of 300 students to do 18month technician courses at institutes of technology for the National Certificate in Manufacturing Technology. Industrial firms had been involved in recruiting the students, most of whom were "second chance" students with no previous third-level education, drawing up the curriculum, and arranging six-month work placements for them.
He said 1,000 people, some unemployed, many in their 20s, had applied for the first 300 places. One of the most encouraging things about this programme was that the attrition rate in its first year had been almost nil.
"Here we have a situation where students who didn't do as well when they were 18 or 19, but by the time they get to 24 or 25 they're quite capable of going back to college and completing a course like this, and securing good employment, and then going on to get further qualifications if they wish."
He also mentioned the success of the summer courses in technology for up to 300 mature students at Dublin City University, a partnership programme between its Distance Learning Centre and the institutes of technology. It was hoped to extend the programme into the autumn.
He said the Technician Task Force, the joint industry-higher education committee headed by Dr Sean McDonagh which devised these projects, had been an outstanding success. Another of its projects is an electronics course at PLC level for 150 students in Dublin, Cork and Limerick.
Capitation Grants
Mr Martin said the Government was committed to the progressive reduction of the gap between primary and second-level capitation grants. However, he said, other newer payments to primary schools should also be taken into account.
"You can't just discount and ignore that there's new money for IT, or minor refurbishments, or other initiatives over the next couple of years." In future, funding might be targeted at specific areas like science and modern languages.
Education Legislation
The National Qualifications Authority Bill, to be published in the autumn, will see the establishment of an umbrella qualification-awarding authority, certifying awards from basic literacy and numeracy courses, through apprenticeships and FAS courses, to degree and postgraduate level. The universities will be obliged to co-operate with the new authority.
The School Attendance Bill will be published in November. Mr Martin said he hoped to publish legislation on a teaching council early next year. The new legislation on the VECs, to give parents rights of representation and updating and delineating the roles of committees and CEOs, will also be ready by early next year.