Vol. 535 No. 2
56 Mr. Quinn asked the Minister for Education and Science the measures which are being taken by his Department to address the relative under-achievement of boys in State examinations; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12372/01]
The Irish experience in relation to examination performance of males and females mirrors the international experience. My Department has been engaged in a wide range of initiatives ranging from research to wider forms of curricular provision and assessment in addressing the issue of under-achievement.
The Department of Education and Science and the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment commissioned educational research by a number of research agencies on this matter. This research included analysis of the factors contributing to the performance of candidates in examinations.
The Educational Research Centre conducted a longitudinal study of 1994 junior certificate candidates who took the leaving certificate examination in 1996 or 1997. Both the interim and the final reports of the longitudinal study on performance in the 1996 leaving certificate examination, of the cohort who sat the junior certificate examination in 1994, note that there is a tendency for boys to be over represented in the group of students receiving low grades of E, F and NG in the junior certificate examination at both ordinary level and higher level. This pattern continues into senior cycle and can be identified in the leaving certificate examination results. Boys are also under represented in the group achieving top marks.
The study suggests that the work currently under way on curriculum and assessment in the junior cycle review by the NCCA may have a positive impact on under-achievement in the junior certificate examination and on subsequent achievement levels at senior cycle. Proposals to widen the range of modes and techniques of assessment in the junior certificate examination and consideration of providing greater flexibility in curriculum provision are considered to be particularly significant factors in tackling underachievement.
Equally, increased attention in revised senior cycle curricula to differentiation of syllabus material at ordinary level and higher level and consequentially the use of different examination instruments should also prove significant.
A research project entitled Do Schools Differ? was undertaken by the Education and Social Research Institute for the Department of Education and Science. It explored the impact of schooling factors on a range of pupil outcomes at junior and leaving certificate level. This research confirms the different levels of examination performance by gender and also indicates that females make greater progress relative to their initial ability. Girls apply themselves better to homework and study and have higher educational aspirations. Nevertheless, the report shows that girls tend to have a lower sense of control of their lives, to report higher stress levels and to have lower self-esteem. In response the Department has initiated a number of personal development programmes for both sexes to address self-esteem among lower ability pupils in order to integrate them more fully into the education process.
