Students should have right to judge teachers

THE advent of a website rating teachers’ performances in the classroom is problematic in terms of unaccountable comments and the absence of transparency. Few could endorse such a measure.

However, we are in danger of throwing out the baby with the bathwater in an outright rejection of the philosophy behind the initiative.

What role is there currently for student involvement in the evaluation of teaching performance? The inspection process, in effect, is a form of oversight by the Department of Education with little role for parents and none for students.

Involving young people in decisions governing their lives is a central feature of modern policy arising from the UN convention on the rights of the child and the national children’s strategy which “recognises that children have an active contribution to make in shaping their own lives and the lives of those around them.”

The advent of student councils and an active schools’ student union displays a concern among pupils about the future of the education system. If an anonymous website is to be condemned by the teacher unions, perhaps they, along with the Department of Education, could come forward with their own mechanism for ensuring young people are involved in the most important process affecting their lives.

Diarmuid Kearney

Chief Executive

National Youth Federation

20 Lower Dominick Street

Dublin 1