The new two-stage Leaving Cert format, which will see students take some exams early in the academic year, is set to be launched by Minister for Education Mary Hanafin in the first months of 2007, writes Seán Flynn, Education Editor
A Department of Education spokesman has confirmed that the Minister wants to see the new format begin around this time next year, to help reduce stress on more than 55,000 students.
Under proposals now being prepared, the earlier exam would account for about 25 per cent of the total marks. But the department stresses that no final decisions will be made until teacher unions and partners have been fully consulted.
It is known that Ms Hanafin favours a new approach in which the essay and comprehension sections of papers in Irish, English and other languages are taken during the school year instead of in June.
Similarly, students would sit one exam early in the school year and a second in June in all other subjects.
A decision on whether to release the results of earlier exams before the June papers has yet to be made.
The Minister says the introduction of a second assessment component in all subjects "would have the benefit of reducing the muchcriticised stress imposed on students by a single high-stakes terminal examination."
Like the main exams in June, the earlier ones will be marked externally and not by class teachers.
The Minister favours practical change to the Leaving Cert rather than the more ambitious plans proposed by her advisory group, the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA).
The NCCA has proposed an ambitious three-year rolling programme for the Leaving Cert. This would include elements of the Transition Year programme and offer a much wider variety of subjects.
But the department has been slow to back the plan, which could cost more than €50 million extra to implement. The Minister has dubbed the NCCA plans the "Rolls-Royce option" for exam reform.
Last month she told the Dáil that change to the exam should seek to minimise disruption to schools, take account of "logistical and cost factors" and reflect the capacity of the system to change.
She also expressed a preference for retaining the existing Transition Year as a stand-alone programme.
Ms Hanafin is known to be concerned about any tinkering with the exam which might raise concerns about it being "dumbed down".
In a letter to the NCCA earlier this year she stressed the importance of maintaining public confidence in the education and examination systems. The NCCA proposals signal a shift towards more independent and self-directed learning. But the Minister has expressed doubts about the capacity of many teenage boys, in particular, to respond to this approach.