Second level teachers are to ballot for industrial action in schools over Government’s plans to reform the Leaving Cert if agreement cannot be reached in talks to the Department of Education.
Delegates at the annual convention of the Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland (ASTI) in Killarney also stipulated that any proposed changes to the Leaving Cert arising from the talks between unions and the Department of Education must be put to a vote of members.
Teachers are concerned that the process to implement the Leaving Cert reforms is being rushed and being undertaken without sufficient resources or training being provided.
Minister for Education Helen McEntee said she wanted the talks concluded by the early part of May. The Government plans to implement the reforms from September.
Red card for Tipperary’s Darragh McCarthy was justified but it broke an unwritten rule
China exerts control from a nondescript office on Dublin’s Capel Street
China’s intimidation of an Irish citizen in Dublin: ‘I wanted to escape. It’s scary’
Irish woman living legally in US for decades detained after visiting her father in Ireland
She said €12 million had been provided to upgrade school laboratories “but I know we need to do more”.
She acknowledged teachers’ concerns about AI technology being used by students on their exam projects. She said new guidance would issue from the State Examination Commission in the near future.
Teachers at the conference passed an emergency motion that mandated the union to take action up to and including a ballot of members for industrial action if talks to the Department of Education on Leaving Cert reforms failed “to deliver an acceptable outcome”.
Delegates on both sides of the emergency motion debate expressed concerns the talks process could drag on until after the school year ended and by the time they returned to classes in the autumn the new reforms would be in place.
Some delegates argued that it was important for the union to remain in step with the Teachers’ Union of Ireland on the issue of the reforms.
ASTI president Donal Cremin said: “It is my firm belief – and the belief of the vast majority in this room – that we now stand on a cliff edge when it comes to the future of Irish education.”
“The decisions we are about to make will shape not just our education system, but the very fabric of Irish society and our financial wellbeing, for the next 20 years – and, quite possibly, much further into the future.”
Under the proposed changes, which are scheduled to be rolled out across a range of subjects for students, starting with fifth year, in September, a minimum of 40 per cent will be awarded for work outside written exams, such as projects, research, practicals or oral exams.
Among the subjects where reforms are planned to start are biology, chemistry, physics and business studies.
The union’s general secretary, Kieran Christie, told delegates the talks on the Leaving Cert reforms were “not stuck”.
However, he said the Department of Education “will need to up its game” when the process resumes after Easter.
Members of the Teachers’ Union of Ireland (TUI) will debate an identical emergency motion at its conference in Wexford on Wednesday.
Ms McEntee also told the conference that she would be introducing a new DEIS-plus scheme that would “target the most disadvantaged areas and students, and break down barriers for children and young people who need our support the most”.
