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State Examinations.

Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 2 February 2005

Wednesday, 2 February 2005

Questions (264)

Paul Connaughton

Question:

324 Mr. Connaughton asked the Minister for Education and Science if her attention has been drawn to the unrest among history teachers at second level concerning the introduction of the new leaving certificate history course and that despite the long run-in period no examination papers have been made available to teachers; if her attention has further been drawn to the fact that the new syllabus contains several unfamiliar elements, teachers preparing students for the history examination in 2006 are put in a very unfair position and that without the relevant information on they way in which questions will be phrased or the level of information which will be required from students, it will be difficult to develop student skills of organising their ideas to answer the kind of questions that will be put to them and the way in which to time their answers; if her attention has further been drawn to the fact that history students in previous years have the experience of being able to use old examination papers to prepare for their examination and that this facility will not be available for the 2006 leaving certificate students; if her attention has further been drawn to the fact that it is the norm for examination papers to be made available at the same time that new syllabi are being prepared; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [2961/05]

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Written answers

The policy relating to the issue of sample examination papers in respect of new or revised syllabuses for the certificate examinations is that they are made available in the September prior to the June in which the first examination takes place. As the first examination for leaving certificate history and geography will take place in June 2006, sample papers for these subjects will be issued by the State Examinations Commission in September 2005.

A comprehensive inservice programme for history has been in place for teachers since September 2004. During this inservice, draft sample questions prepared by the NCCA were discussed and initial feedback from teachers was sought to inform the development of the next stage of the process, namely, the preparation of sample papers by the State Examinations Commission. Furthermore, a wide range of resources is now accessible to teachers and more are being developed by the support service.

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