Students reassured strike will not disrupt state exams

STUDENTS and their parents have been assured that a teachers’ strike later this month will not disrupt oral and practical exams for this year’s Junior and Leaving Certificate.

Members of the Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland (ASTI) and Teachers’ Union of Ireland (TUI) will join a national union protest on Monday, March 30. The one-day strike falls in the middle of scheduled oral tests for students of Leaving Certificate Irish, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Russian and Japanese, and practical tests for Leaving Certificate music and Junior Certificate music and home economics, some of which begin in schools next week.

But agreement has been reached by the State Examinations Commission (SEC) with school managers and teacher unions to continue with plans to hold all these exams during the same two-week period. This may involve the 1,000-plus examiners conducting tests outside normal school hours to ensure all their work is completed. Most examiners are second-level teachers, who are given leave of absence to carry out work for the SEC, while the Department of Education covers the cost of substitute teachers during their absence.