ASTI: Warning over cover for state exams

Failure to increase pay rates and imposition of new tax rules means Junior and Leaving Certificate exams could be left with no teachers to supervise or correct them, a teachers’ union official has warned.

The State Examinations Commission (SEC) struggled to find examiners to mark a number of subjects until the weeks after the exams last June, as teachers are increasingly questioning the value of the work to them.

For superintendents who supervise written exams, difficulties providing cover at all 730 second-level schools mean some teachers are being paid for five days of superintending work to be on standby, but might not even be called on to fulfil the duties.