Changes to the Leaving Certificate have come too late following a delay in funding, it has been said.

The National Council for Curriculum and Assessment had rejected reforms to the test subjects for secondary school pupils, saying they are now out of date, the Irish Independent reported.

According to the group, the new syllabuses, which were designed in 2005, are now redundant and need to be overhauled again.

The Department of Education failed to implement the reforms for the last six years as it claimed there was a lack of finance to make the huge transformation of the examinations.

It is thought that establishing the 2005 version of the art syllabus would set the budget back 2.1 million euros for teacher training and equipment, while technology and economics subjects would also cost millions.

These high costs suggest that even setting up the changes first considered in 2005 would be too dear for the Department of Education as it is currently under strict budget restrictions.

Education Minister recently told the Irish Times that the country's tough economic conditions could affect teaching staff as they may have to face salary reductions and redundancies.

Written by Donal Walsh  

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