Junior Cert reform will shatter education in this country

The media coverage on the Junior Cycle reform and the strikes by the teacher unions to-date suggests there is no public mood to take the concerns of the teachers into account. 

Analysts appear to agree the changes proposed by the Minister for Education and Skills Jan O’Sullivan will benefit all young people. What could possibly go wrong with teachers assessing their own students for 40% of the examination?

What could possibly go wrong with young people age 12 choosing not to take subjects, such as, history or physical education? It is naive to think this policy is politically neutral and is unconnected to the European liberal agenda which seeks to reduce the role of the state in the delivery of public services.

For example, one stated aim of the Junior Cycle reform will be that schools do their own publicity and find their own way within the logic of the markets and separate one from the other as either ‘exploratory’, ‘adventurous’ or ‘cautious’ schools.

This stratification of schools will for the first time in the history of the state shatter the conception of education as a public good for all. The questions that might need to be asked instead are: what savings will be made on an annual basis by the government in this reform?; what policies and plans have been put in place to ensure that savings made will remain within the Ministry as a future sustainable investment in education?; and who will really benefit from these changes?

Geraldine Mooney Simmie

Lecturer in Education

Faculty of Education and Health Science

University of Limerick