Planned junior cycle changes lack credibility

To resist unsound changes to the junior cycle being imposed by Government, members of the Association of Secondary Teachers of Ireland (ASTI) and the Teachers Union of Ireland (TUI) have voted overwhelmingly for industrial action.

In addition to the opposition of teachers to school-based assessment, a national opinion poll last May showed the majority of the public are opposed to teachers correcting their own students’ work for certification purposes.

Our main areas of opposition relate to the planned removal of national certification and external assessment, both of which provide status and credibility to the assessment process. Such credibility is linked with the high level of public trust in our education system.

We are also opposed to the imposition of further pressure on the capacity of schools to provide quality education in the wake of several years of austerity, none of which was reversed in the Budget.

It is clear that proposed changes to subject provision will have detrimental effects on the quality of education.

Subjects such as CSPE, History and Geography will be downgraded to optional status. Such change will hinder the development of informed citizens.

Sustainable reform requires teacher support and public confidence. We call on the Minister to engage with us on this basis.

Philip Irwin

President, ASTI

Gerry Quinn

President, TUI