The Junior Cert results, which arrive in schools today, confirm some disturbing trends which were also a feature of the Leaving Cert results in July. While higher-level students are performing exceptionally well, high failure rates are evident in several ordinary-level papers.
This year, about 7 per cent of students failed ordinary -level maths while high failure rates are a feature of the results in ordinary-level French, German and Italian.
Looking at the results of both Junior and Leaving Cert this year, it is clear that about 5,000 students are struggling to perform in the exams. There is a cohort of about this number who failed ordinary-level maths in the Leaving Cert, making them ineligible for most third-level courses. The same group of students tend to fail many subjects at ordinary level - first in the Junior Cert and again in the Leaving Cert.
It is easy to predict this since the Junior Cert is now very much the mirror image of the Leaving Cert with the same emphasis on rote learning. The same criticisms which have been made of the Leaving Cert also apply to the Junior Cert; it tests much too narrow a range of intelligence and gives little reward for flair and initiative. It was not supposed to be like this. When it replaced the old Inter Cert the expectation was that the Junior Cert would be a new, more modern exam with an emphasis on practical and creative skills.
Educationalists tend to agree that the Junior Cert should be replaced. Indeed, the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment, which advises the Minister, has said as much in forthright terms. A new model which places a greater emphasis on continuous assessment and project work has been proposed but it is by no means clear when it will be implemented. It might also be useful for the Junior Cert to incorporate some successful elements of the Transition Year programme. Should students not be given credit for work in the community or outstanding ability in sports or drama? Must we confine our credit system to traditional subjects in a traditional exam?
There is a sizeable cohort of students for whom the Junior Cert, no less than the Leaving Cert, provides little affirmation and little that will be of practical use in their lives. Some career experts have proposed a new model, of a type used in other EU states, where there is a high-status exam for what one might call "less academic" students at age 15 or 16. An exam in the third year of the second-level cycle is no bad thing in itself. Teenagers certainly need some focus for their studies. But the "one size fits all" approach of the Junior Cert is inappropriate for many students.