Quinn and union willing to discuss Junior Cert plans
The development came last night after a week dominated by teacher outrage over what they claim is a reform policy which poses significant hurdles for the education system, children dependent on it, and teachers themselves, who could find themselves “pressured, blackmailed, and bribed” by parents due to the changes.
Under the move, teachers will be expected to grade and assess their own students as part of a policy designed to replace the Junior Certificate exams at the end of third year with continuous assessment and course work projects.
The move is due to be rolled out on a phased basis for first-year pupils from September. The first subject to be affected will be English this autumn, with the first Junior Cycle Student Awards — the system to replace the Junior Certificate — to be made in 2017.
Speaking at the Teachers’ Union of Ireland AGM in Kilkenny yesterday, Mr Quinn told teachers the plan will not be delayed.
He said the current system “is not providing an engaging and challenging experience for young people”, and that the “imagination of primary school” is often “utterly disrupted by the backwash effect of the Junior Certificate”.
Mr Quinn said the issue means many teenagers drop out of education too soon, and that “moving away from centralised State certification at the end of the junior cycle will certainly benefit those students”.
Despite criticism earlier in the day from delegates, Mr Quinn urged them to “put your mark on this significant change” by engaging “more fully” in the process.
TUI president Gerard Craughwell earlier told delegates that 17 or 18 was “too old” for pupils to experience their first State exam, that Mr Quinn would be “foolish” to think he can implement the reforms without the consent of teachers, and that “attitudes are hardening” on the issue.
However, he later appeared to leave the door open for discussions on how the new system will operate. He told Today FM he wants to talk further about the issue with Mr Quinn and is willing to “sit down and make this work”.
TUI delegates had earlier been warned by their union’s general secretary, John MacGabhann, they could run the risk of being sacked by schools if they point-blank refuse to implement the changes. He made the remark during an ultimately defeated motion to ballot members against teaching the new syllabus. “Let’s not make sacrificial lambs of some of our teachers, where the first thing they are asked to do by the union is lose their job,” the senior official said.
