Vol. 512 No. 1
108 Mr. Wall asked the Minister for Education and Science the plans, if any, he has to increase the number of second level students taking the transition year in view of the finding of the NCCA that students who take transition year get better results in the leaving certificate; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25375/99]
The transition year programme was taken by 23,737 students in 502 second level schools during the school year, 1998-99. Estimated figures for the current year show that, while the number of schools offering the programme may have increased, the number of students remains stable. Every year, a notice is sent out to all schools inviting them to apply to offer the programme. The decision to offer the transition year and the decision to make it compulsory for all students in the year group or not are taken by the individual school.
The transition year programme has three broad, interdependent aims. They are education for human maturity free from the pressure of the public examinations; the enhancement of students' study-skills, especially the development of a self-reliant, self-motivated approach to study; and to introduce students to the workplace and help them to reflect on that experience.
I fully espouse these aims and consider that the transition year programme is indeed achieving them in a very large number of schools. This is borne out by evaluations of the programme carried out by my Department's inspectorate as well as by anecdotal evidence.
The achievement of a high number of points in the leaving certificate examination is not a stated or covert aim of the transition year programme. The longitudinal study of students who sat the junior certificate examination in 1994 and the leaving certificate examination in 1997 was commissioned by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment and carried out by the Educational Research Centre, Drumcondra. It is due to be published shortly. Its finding that taking the transition year programme adds 46 "raw" points to students' leaving certificate results, or 26 points when certain other advantages are taken out, does not in itself constitute a reason for increasing the number of students taking the programme. It is an interesting finding, nevertheless, in that it proves that parents' fears that students will lose their study skills during transition year are unfounded, and that, on the contrary, the second stated aim of the programme, namely the enhancement of study skills, is being realised.
Other findings of the same study may be more important than the increase in leaving certificate points. For example, the discovery that taking the transition year programme greatly enhances the prospects of pupils in disadvantaged contexts in the subsequent leaving certificate examination merits careful examination by my Department.
