Teachers row with Ruairi Quinn set to intensify

A row between teachers and Ruairi Quinn over the education minister’s abolition of the Junior Certificate looks set to deepen after he accused their unions of lacking trust in their professionalism.

Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland members booed and shouted over him during a speech to their conference, as he tried to convince them of the benefits for learning of assessing their own students.

Mr Quinn faced demands from the floor to withdraw a rhetorical question that asked if their union has less faith than he has in their professional capacity as teachers.

“I trust you as our teachers to act professionally and assess your own students without fear or favour to anybody,” he said, echoing recent remarks by the National Parents’ Council-Post Primary.

Mr Quinn asked why there is a fear of change in what is a low-stakes exam. “It begs the question: Does your union have less faith in the professional capacity of you as teachers, than I do?”

ASTI and second-level members of the Teachers’ Union of Ireland, whose congress Mr Quinn faces today, have withdrawn from training and planning meetings for the Junior Cycle Student Award in protest mainly at the assessment aspect of his plans.

However, responding to his claim that unions refused to give written details to an implementation working group on what they want in terms of technology, training and resources for the system, ASTI president Sally Maguire said numerous submissions were made to him in the last 18 months.

Mr Quinn’s 2012 decision to have students entirely marked by their own teachers, except in the initial years for English, Irish, and maths, went against National Council for Curriculum and Assessment advice that final written exams at the end of junior cycle continue to be marked externally by the State Examinations Commission.

“You didn’t think that the voice of teachers, the practitioners, the professionals in the field, the people who would have to deliver the new proposals, was relevant. It never ceases to amaze me. We want change but we want a fair, equitable, transparent State-assessed examination system,” she said, bringing delegates to their feet in applause.

It contrasted with the hostile reception from a significant minority during his half-hour speech, and he is likely to face a similar response today to his message on junior cycle reform at the conference of TUI. Both unions had 88% votes in favour of industrial action on the plans last month, although any impact will not really be felt until further training is set to resume in the autumn, if the row is not resolved by then.

Mr Quinn had some better news for recently qualified teachers, telling the Irish National Teachers’ Organisation congress he expects progress on efforts to reverse reduced salary scales for some who joined in recent years.

However, he landed himself in hot water with INTO delegates too, describing them as a “highly feminised audience and profession”, when outlining plans to raise maths requirements for entry to primary teacher training degrees.