Teachers are trying to do the right thing by pupils

The Minister for Education has failed to grasp that once a principle is compromised it’s as worthless as a pre-election promise. 

It is also inaccurate, that the teacher unions are seeking to preserve a system that favours assessment based on a single terminal examination.

On the contrary, the teachers are taking a brave and justifiable action to preserve the integrity, impartiality and reputation of the state examinations by refusing to assess their own students.

Consequently, the Irish education system is highly regarded throughout the world. Equally important, the State Examinations Commission (SEC), which is responsible for the development, assessment, accreditation and certification of the second-level examinations, has already established a worldwide reputation for its independence, fairness, quality controls and the professionalism of its examiners.

It would be a pity to jeopardise the current egalitarian system of anonymous and objective assessment by changing the nature of the student/teacher relationship from advocacy to adversarial. Teachers have always made themselves available to correct the examination work of students in all the assessment methodologies utilised by the SEC.

However, on principle, teachers do not assess their own students in the public examinations. That principle can never be compromised lest we expose the integrity of the public examinations to external influences where teachers will be put under intolerable pressures.

Billy Ryle

The Spa

Tralee, Co Kerry