ASTI - Ireland's main second level teachers union

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Plans to reform the Junior Cycle must be made “fail-proof” before being introduced for students, the ASTI warned today.

Reacting to today’s launch of Towards a Framework for Junior Cycle by the Minister for Education and Skills Ruairi Quinn, ASTI General Secretary Pat King said: “Second-level teachers are passionate about their students receiving a high quality and relevant education. This is why they are demanding to see the proof that the plans to reform the Junior Cycle are feasible for schools; maintain the high credibility, transparency and objectivity of the Junior Cert exam; and result in an enriched learning experience for all students.”

Pat King said there is an urgent need to fill the significant information gaps in today’s “Framework” document which will be immediately evident to teacher practitioners who read it: “In the past few months the information vacuum in relation to Junior Cycle reform has prompted dozens of questions from teachers to ASTI Head Office. Regrettably the publication of today’s document will not allay teachers’ fears that the current Junior Cycle programme will be replaced by one that has not been fully thought out, is under-resourced and unmanageable for schools.

“There is no room for wooliness when it comes to educational reform of this magnitude. The majority of second-level schools cater for between 500 and 1,000 12 to 18-year-old students and are required to be highly structured and organised institutions. The schools and teachers implementing this reform need full information on exactly what is going to happen, when and how. There is also a need for extensive engagement between individual school staffs, the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment and the Department of Education and Skills in relation to the logistics of implementation of the new Junior Cycle. In this regard, I note the Minister’s statement that there is a considerable level of detail which can only be worked out in dialogue between the Department of Education and Skills and the education partners. Dialogue with teachers is essential and urgent.”

Pat King said the ASTI position on teachers assessing their own students for state examination purposes has not changed. “We believe in education reform that enriches students’ learning experience. The ASTI is adamant that any move that places teachers in the role of judge rather than advocate of the student will distort the existing professional relationship between teachers, students and parents and will therefore damage students’ experience of second-level education.”

Finally the ASTI General Secretary said both the NCCA and the Minister today acknowledged the challenges of the difficult environment in which schools and teachers are operating: “This is due to the drastic cutbacks in resources for schools. It confirms that there is no fat to be cut from second-level education.”

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