THE Teachers' Union of Ireland wants the time schools are allocated to teach the less academic Leaving Certificate Applied (LCA) programme and its Junior Certificate equivalent to be doubled.
TUI president Mr Joe Carolan said last week that the successful implementation of the LCA programme required a huge commitment from teachers in terms of preparation, administration and particularly teamwork.
The LCA is not subject-based, but project- and task-based. More than a dozen teachers in a school can be involved in preparing and delivering its mix of English, maths, computers, a foreign language, career guidance, self-development, work experience and other elements.
Since it was introduced in 1995, the numbers completing LCA have risen from 750 to an expected 2,500 this year, and it has been widely praised by educationalists, politicians and industrialists for giving less academic children a chance to obtain a national certificate and greatly increase both their self-esteem and their chance of a well-paid job.
More than 90 per cent of last year's LCA graduates found work or went on to further education. However, Mr Carolan said if the number of teacher hours allocated to it was not significantly increased "it will grind to a halt because the teachers will be worn out from it".
Schools are currently allocated the equivalent of a quarter of a teacher per LCA class per week, or 51/2 teaching hours per week. "Spread among the dozen or so teachers involved, that adds up to less than half an hour extra per week for the entire team," said Mr Carolan.
The TUI wants the Government to increase the allocation to 11 hours per class per week for all schools offering Leaving Certificate Applied and its equivalent for 12- to 15-year-olds, the Junior Certificate Schools Programme.
Mr Carolan said that in some schools in disadvantaged areas - where students should be encouraged to take such programmes - there were two Junior Certificate Schools Programme classes being taught by the equivalent of a quarter of a teacher.