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Three years after we first set up this website, the Minister of Education and Science finally announced a major inquiry into grade inflation at both second and third level. The announcements are reported here: Major inquiries into 'grade inflation' in exam results Allegations of Irish exam 'grade inflation' The news has been welcomed by Google, one of a number of multinationals who reportedly lobbied the Minister about the issue: Google welcomes probe into 'grade inflation' There was a deluge of articles on the issue: University grade inflation highlighted by study O'Keeffe orders probe as college scores 900pc inflation in grades John Walshe: Rising degree of alarm at third-level grade inflation The TCD report referred is available here. Our contribution to the debate was: Independent inquiry into grade inflation is essential Both papers featured editorials on grade inflation: Irish Independent: Time to tackle grade inflation Irish Times: Waking up to grade inflation The Ministers' statement on the issue here Over the weekend March 6-7 there was a tremendous amount of column inches devoted to grade inflation. A selection is:
On a lighter note: Graduates recalled by Ireland Inc. Members of the Network have been interviewed on various radio programmes over the week, including Drivetime on Radio IADT: Catherine O’Mahony discusses grade inflation with Chris Bond of the Union of Students in Ireland and Simon Quinn of the Network of Irish Educational Standards. Producer: Gabriel Maguire.
and on Inside Education on 103.2 Dublin City FM, Dr. Brendan Guilfoyle was interviewed about grade inflation. Presented and produced by Seán Delaney.
The Department of Education and Science report is now available: Quality of Graduates. Our response to the current developments is as follows. We welcome the recent prominence given to grade inflation in the Irish educational system as a first step to dealing with this most serious threat to standards. At an institutional level, however, the recent response has been extraordinary in its almost complete refusal to grapple with the problem. In the first instance, the Minister of Education and Science’s statement to the Dail contained almost nothing of substance other than a restatement of data that has long been in the public domain. Moreover, his implication that, while there is evidence of grade inflation at third level, the improved results at second level can be fully explained, beggars belief. In particular, while Minister O’Keefe’s list of factors explaining inflated Leaving Certificate grades is accurate, to argue that the result is not grade inflation is to entirely misunderstand the whole issue. That is, the phrase “make subjects more accessible” could just as easily read “make subjects easier”, “exam-orientated teaching” is “teaching to the test” and “published marking schemes, exemplars of standards etc” means “predictable examinations”. The only factor missing in the list is easier marking schemes, a key component in the decline of the Leaving Certificate. One can only conclude that the Minister is attempting to protect those closest to him, i.e. the Department of Education and Science, from criticism, while accepting that problems exist solely at third level. In this context, it is worthwhile to note the stream of employers that have come forward complaining about the low-level of literacy of job-applicants, which is a problem of second level education. The response from the College Presidents has been equally appalling, with everyone else to blame other than themselves. Even more shocking has been the insider revelations on the educational regulatory authorities that have emerged in the national press. According to a current member of the Irish Universities Quality Board: “The whole thing is a cosy cartel. Each of us has our own agenda and we can pursue it without difficulty. Occasional concerns have been raised about grade inflation but there has been no serious debate, let alone any decent research work.”Going still further is the DCU President’s recent blog posting in which he states that “at least in my presence, no board member has ever suggested that there should be debate or research on grade inflation.” A former member of the Higher Education Training and Awards Council states: “There is no sense that anyone is in control of standards. You can more or less do what you like.”We have long argued that the regulatory authorities have been captured by the institutions they were designed to regulate and that the results have been a prioritizing of growth over standards. The above revelations have confirmed this in the most unambiguous way. Under the current regime, regulation has been reduced to endless meaningless paperwork with no enforcement and no focus on end results. The Minister’s proposal to unify the regulatory authorities into a single agency raises questions as to whether the issue of standards will continue to be delegated to individual institutions or whether the new agency will have authority over all institutions of higher education. At an individual level, we have been contacted by educators from all over the country. Most have tales to tell of how any attempts that they have made to uphold standards have been suppressed. We are currently collating these reports and will reveal their contents in the near future. A new culture is desperately needed in Irish education, one in which educational standards take centre stage in reality rather than simply on paper. It is clear that this will not be possible under the current leadership. As in the banking sector, a clean sweep is needed if we are to have any chance of restoring confidence in our educational awards.
Members of the Network are available for comment at the following number: Simon Quinn 087 2966534.
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