Teachers oppose assessing own junior pupils

TEACHER group leaders have said they oppose members marking their own students as part of the new Junior Certificate testing — even though hundreds are already doing so.

The Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland (ASTI) said it favours reforms of the exam system but the introduction of assessment of students by their own teachers is not acceptable.

As part of an overhaul of the three-year junior cycle, the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) has proposed that 40% of marks in all subjects would be based on portfolios of students learning. But the projects and other studies that make up those portfolios would be marked within each school, subject to samples being checked by the State Examinations Commission to ensure fairness and the maintenance of standards.