This morning will be a stressful one for thousands of students as they begin the Leaving and Junior Cert exams. The Leaving may be a much criticised examination but it retains a towering presence in the Irish education landscape.
Today, there will hardly be a person in the State who does not know someone taking the exam; there is a sense of a truly national occasion.
This year, for the first time, the operation of the exams has passed from the Department of Education to the new State Examinations Commission. This is an overdue reform: the Republic has been one of the few OECD states where the examinations were run by the national education department. The establishment of the commission is one of a series of measures which will help to give the Department the breathing space it needs to focus on policy matters.
The good news is that the new commission, which is staffed largely by former members of the Department's exams branch, appears well up to the huge logistical challenge of running the exams. There is little reason to believe that the operation will not be smooth and professional.
The Leaving Cert class of 2003 and their families will have been unsettled in recent months by the constant speculation about the possible return of college fees. It is good that the issue was resolved - if very belatedly - before the exams began. The Leaving itself remains an unloved exam, as the comprehensive on-line survey from the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) has shown. The survey echoes many familiar criticisms of the exam: it tests too narrow a range of skills, it places a premium on the regurgitation of material against the clock and gives little reward for personal initiative.
The Minister for Education, Mr Dempsey, is poised to embark on a radical overhaul of the Leaving, once the NCCA review of senior cycle education is complete. The Minister has been openly critical of the exam which he believes is out of step with modern needs. He believes policymakers should not be diverted from the task of reforming the exam simply because it retains public support and public confidence.
The challenge facing the Minister will be to modernise and upgrade the exam, while still retaining this high level of public support. It will not be an easy task.
For the class of 2003, this debate will be of no more than academic interest. They remain focused on their exams over the next fortnight. The hope must be that all candidates perform to the very best of their abilities.