Talks to avert second level strike to go down to the wire

Talks aimed at averting further strikes by second level teachers over Junior Certificate reforms look set to go down to the wire after trade unions called for clarification of a compromise proposal.

Teachers’ unions the ASTI and TUI said “significant aspects” of the compromise document put before them yesterday were not acceptable but they were willing to continue negotiations on it.

Education Minister Jan O’Sullivan said she was disappointed at the unions’ response to the proposal.

“It is intended to be a draft agreement, not a starting point for negotiations,” she said.

However, she noted that the deadline of next Thursday set by independent talks chairman Dr Pauric Travers for a decision on the proposal left time to seek clarification.

She said her own department would seek to clarify some points during this period and Dr Travers would be available to tease out the issues with both sides. “I await the outcome of this engagement,” she said.

Two school days have already been lost due to strikes over plans to make the Junior Cert partly graded on State exam results and partly on continuous assessment. Teachers are opposed to assessing their own pupils, arguing that the move would make it difficult to ensure standards and would damage the independence and integrity of the grading process.

Dr Travers was appointed as mediator last October after direct talks between the unions and the department broke down, and he was asked to come up with a compromise proposal.

He suggested that teachers should begin assessing their pupils but that this grade be kept separate from the State exam results, which would continue to be set and corrected independently.

In a joint statement following five hours of talks on the document yesterday, the TUI and ASTI said they wanted to continue in negotiations but stressed the compromise proposals would have to be amended.

“Significant aspects of the document are not acceptable to teachers. The ASTI and TUI believe that substantial change, clarification and negotiation on the draft document are required before agreement is possible,” they said.

A spokesperson said the practicalities around what would be assessed, and how, had not been made clear, nor were there sufficient assurances over how standards would be maintained.

Dr Travers’ proposal states that additional resources would be needed to support the introduction of assessment, but the unions want further details about how those resources would be provided.

“We will be writing to Dr Travers this evening and telling him the outcome of today’s meeting. We’re ready to talk more; we’re ready to engage in discussion; we want this resolved but there is still a long way to go.”

Don Myers, president of the National Parents Council — Post Primary, urged the unions to work towards accepting the compromise.

“This has been dragging on for far too long. We are now into February with State exams coming up and before we know it we’ll be back into September with no progress. To have this hanging over is not healthy,” he said. “It’s a compromise. I think there’s a lot of good in it. I think teachers should be happy with it. We have to look at the good side of it and drive on.”