Quinn urged to resolve row on junior cycle reform

A parents’ leader has called on teacher unions and Education Minister Ruairi Quinn to resolve the dispute over junior cycle reform.

The appeal was made by National Parents’ Council- Post Primary president Don Myers following Mr Quinn’s invitation to talks this week to two unions on industrial action over the Junior Cycle Student Award.

The Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland and Teachers’ Union of Ireland oppose Mr Quinn’s plan that members should mark their own students instead of exams being assessed externally by the State Examinations Commission, which currently happens for the Junior and Leaving Certificate.

But as details of regional meetings on the replacement for the Junior Certificate are being finalised, Mr Myers said the second-level parents’ body has confidence in the professionalism of teachers to mark their own students in the right circumstances.

“We hold teachers in high regard, and there is external moderation of assessment for teachers being proposed. We would hope that would even strengthen the confidence of both parents and teachers in the new system, the most important thing for teachers and parents is the education of the children,” he said.

Mr Myers welcomed the opportunity for dialogue in the talks that Mr Quinn wants to chair when state exams finish in three weeks’ time. While the motivation for his intervention is unclear, the possibility of Mr Quinn losing his post in a Cabinet reshuffle is believed by some observers to be a major factor.

ASTI and TUI have both welcomed the invitation but stressed that, while they favour junior cycle reform, the assessment of students should be impartial and transparent.

The system of external moderation proposed by school management representatives has been broadly supported by other education partners in a working group on junior cycle reforms set up in January, which reported this week that assessment was the main area on which little progress was made.

Mr Myers said parents can hear details of assessment and other aspects of the proposed reform at a series of regional meetings to be held shortly.

Ciarán Cannon, minister of state at the Department of Education, told the Dáil on Thursday that National Parents’ Council-Post Primary, and the National Parents’ Council-Primary are helping to organise the events.

The National Council for Curriculum and Assessment will explain the approach to learning and assessment.

The focus of the meetings is likely to be on parents of pupils about to finish sixth class, as students beginning second-level in September will be the first group to experience the changes.