Co. Louth VEC has said that it has commenced facilitating its schools to formally implement the oral component of the Junior Certificate French examination.  CEO of the VEC, Dr. Pádraig Kirk said that, "it is expected that this component of the examination will be introduced on a phased basis over the coming years, starting this summer with Scoil Uí Mhuirí in Dunleer". Other schools affected include St. Oliver's Community College in Drogheda, O'Fiaich College in Dundalk and Bush Post-primary school in Cooley.

Louth VEC schools recently introduced the oral component of the Junior Certificate Irish examination. Dr. Kirk said, "our experience in the case of Junior Cycle oral Irish has been very positive with each school reporting a considerable increase in student performance".  The CEO added, "when teachers of French, and students and their parents, saw what we did in the case of Irish, the VEC was asked if it could help in replicating the success in French".
 
The oral examination is optional in the language subjects at Junior Certificate level.  However, because the State Examinations Commission (SEC) does not pay for teachers to visit schools to conduct the oral tests, unlike at Leaving Certificate level, the number of schools that implement this component, while growing, remains relatively small.
 
The oral examination component in Junior Cycle French is worth 20% of the overall mark, in the case of Irish the oral exam is worth 40%.  In effect, this means that students could have a considerable number of the overall marks under their belt before they even sit the written test in June.  Dr. Kirk said that, "the VEC wishes to ensure that students are provided with every opportunity to pick up maximum marks in their examinations and in this context we have recruited examiners from outside our schools to conduct the oral tests". The CEO said he plans to meet with SEC to explain the system that the VEC operates and encourage the commission to mainstream it nationally.

Last year 148 students sat the Junior Cycle oral examination across the VECs schools and this number is set to increase this year.  The first cohort of students will take the French oral component in the Junior Cycle examination this June.