Plan for teacher-assessed Junior Cert exams opposed

Teachers fear that proposed changes to Junior Certificate assessment will create a ‘nod and a wink’ culture in Irish education similar to that exposed by the Mahon Report.

At the final day of the Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland in Cork yesterday, delegates unanimously voted against any changes to the Junior Certificate exam which would see teachers assess their own students for certification. The proposed changes set out by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment are central to Education Minister Ruairi Quinn’s plans to overhaul the examination.

ASTI delegates said any plans to have teachers assess their own students for State exams would irrevocably damage the student/teacher relationship and would open the system up to pressure from parents, pupils and school management for good grades, even where they are not justified.