Teachers could lose up to 5 per cent of pay due under public service deals if they fail to co-operate with controversial Leaving Cert reforms, second-level teaching unions have been warned.
The changes, due to roll out from next September, will see students awarded a minimum of 40 per cent for project work or practicals across all subjects in a move aimed at broadening assessment and easing pressure facing exam candidates.
The two second-level teachers’ unions, which last month described the plans as “rushed” and “flawed”, are to ballot members over whether to accept a new package of supports offered by the Department of Education or embark on industrial action in September.
The package, finalised last week, includes fast-tracking permanent contracts for new teachers, more middle-management posts in schools, changes to how additional hours are worked in schools and working groups on topics such as the use of artificial intelligence and teachers’ workload.
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In letters to both unions, seen by The Irish Times, a senior department official has confirmed that pay increases – worth about 5 per cent between now and next year – are subject to co-operation with the Leaving Cert reforms.
They include a 3 per cent local bargaining payment and a 2 per cent general pay increase.
“The department reserves the right to seek a pause or clawback of these [local bargaining] increases in the event of industrial action or other noncompliance in the future in respect of senior cycle redevelopment, through the appropriate public service agreement structures,” the department letter states.
The letter says that other pay increases are subject to supporting and co-operating with senior cycle redevelopment.
“In the event that co-operation ceases at any stage, the Department of Education . . . will refer this to the normal dispute resolution mechanisms.”
It adds “the department considers this document a full and final offer in relation to support measures for this phase of senior cycle redevelopment”.
Last week, the Teachers’ Union of Ireland recommended that members accept the new Leaving Cert reform package.
It said the package was “the best that could be achieved through negotiation” and had the potential to allay teachers’ concerns over workload and resources required by schools.
Many of the union’s demands for additional supports and resources – contained in a 14-page document it sent to the Minister for Education last March – are reflected in the department’s support package.
The Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland is to ballot members without a recommendation on whether to accept or reject the package.
In a statement following the conclusion of talks last week, Minister for Education Helen McEntee said the reforms were “in the best interest of students”.
“It will help to reduce the pressure faced by students, while recognising a broader range of skills and ensuring that students have the skills necessary to thrive and succeed in a rapidly changing world,” she said.
The Irish Second-Level Students’ Union supports the reforms and said students “cannot afford to wait” any longer for Leaving Cert changes.
The teaching unions’ annual conferences at Easter heard concerns over whether educators could stand over the integrity of new research projects worth 40 per cent, given the cheating risk posed by artificial intelligence.
Many also complained that laboratories were ill-equipped for the volume of new research projects for physics, chemistry and biology, and that the changes would benefit affluent schools with access to more resources.
