Unions insist on external assessment of junior cycle

Union leaders and teachers are still in talks and training about junior cycle reforms they plan to ballot on withdrawing from or even striking over.

But the Teachers’ Union of Ireland (TUI) insisted last night that students must be assessed externally and the planned Junior Cycle Student Award certified by the State Examinations Commission (SEC), instead of by their own teachers and schools, which Education Minister Ruairi Quinn is proposing.

Despite insisting the increased supports, extra training and slower pace of change promised by his officials a week ago were not enough to address their concerns, the Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland (ASTI) and TUI attended the first sub-group meeting of the working group on junior cycle reform yesterday. Both were unhappy with assurances offered by Mr Quinn’s officials to the working group last Friday that their issues were being dealt with.

The meeting held yesterday discussed resources needed for new assessment methods in schools, to include time for planning meetings and school management posts to co-ordinate changes, issues Mr Quinn said he is committed to addressing. But TUI president Gerard Craughwell said his union can not negotiate any changes involving school-based assessment.

“All we have had so far is a grand announcement from the minister. Let him come back and tell us what resources he’s got from Brendan Howlin’s department to back it, and then we might talk about it,” he said.

“Student achievement in the new junior cycle must be externally assessed and nationally certified by the SEC,” he said.

ASTI or TUI have yet to send out ballots on the issue, but Mr Craughwell said his 10,000 second-level members will be asked to give a mandate for action up to and including strike in protest against imposition of the minister’s proposals.

The assessment of students entirely by their own teachers goes beyond the advice to Mr Quinn from the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment that the SEC continue to mark final written exams worth 60% of marks for each subject.

Teachers and principals also continue to take part in a training programme for the JCSA, with almost 250 teachers of English attending a professional development course at eight training centres last Tuesday, among 800 to have taken part so far.