asked the Minister for Education if he will consider the advisability of having a dictation test included in all future examinations held under the direction of the Department for pupils of Primary and Secondary Schools for the certificates of the Department and for scholarships of all kinds.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Dictation Test in Future Examinations.
The question does not state whether the Deputy refers to dictation in Irish or in English, or in both languages. An element of competition enters into practically all the examinations conducted by the Secondary branch of the Department, and in such examinations it is essential that the conditions under which candidates are tested should be as uniform as possible. The conducting of dictation tests on uniform conditions at a large number of centres throughout the country would present difficulties which would more than counterbalance the value of such tests, and I am not prepared, therefore, to adopt the suggestion.
So far as the Primary branch is concerned, the question as to the desirability of including dictation in the Primary School Certificate Examination will be submitted for discussion to the Primary School Certificate Committee, but it is not proposed to include dictation in examinations for scholarships, etc., conducted by the Primary branch.