Vol. 408 No. 2
18 Mr. Taylor asked the Minister for Education if, in the light of the introduction of the junior certificate, she will outline the conditions on which she agreed terms with the teachers regarding assessment of students in the current academic year; and if she will make a statement on the matter.
The junior certificate programme commenced in the schools in 1989. It will be examined for the first time in 1992. Accordingly, the question of initiatives, in the assessment of students in connection with the junior certificate, will not arise in the current academic year of 1990/91.
As to the future a working group of representatives of teachers, school managers and my Department has been established under the chairmanship of Dr. Tom Murphy, who is also chairman of the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment, to consider all aspects of assessment for the junior certificate examination. Definitive decisions on the matter must await the working group's report. In the meantime, I have decided that no new modes of assessment will be introduced for the 1992 junior certificate examination.
