Teachers won’t assess their own students in junior cycle

The dispute between teachers and the Department of Education over junior cycle reform is due to become more protracted after secondary teachers decided not to undertake associated assessments of their own students.

The Junior Cycle Profile of Achievement (JCPA) is intended to be issued from autumn 2017 for students who have completed the three-year cycle. It would include outcomes of classroom-based assessments, as well as results of the planned continuation of the State-certified written Junior Certificate exams.

While 18,000 members of the Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland (Asti) are already on course to begin a series of one-day strikes in the autumn on disputed detail of the reforms, a motion passed at its annual convention adds further complication.