Action by teachers action likely to affect short courses

Concern has been expressed that new computer and vocational short courses due to be rolled out in secondary schools next September will become the “collateral damage” of industrial action beginning today.

Teachers are withdrawing co-operation from reforms to the Junior Cycle, which will halt the roll-out of a new continuous assessment regime, as well as delay the introduction of long-planned short courses in subjects such as digital media literacy and physical education.

Prof Mike Hinchey, director of Lero, the software research centre based at University of Limerick which developed the short course in computer programming, said any delay was "bad news".

“We are producing about one-third of the graduates we need in computer science. We are not going to resolve that overnight but the sooner you can get young people interested and involved the better. It’s ridiculous we don’t have computer science as a subject in our schools and the short course is a step towards resolving that. It would be terrible if it was delayed any more.”

Computer programming is one of eight short courses which have been developed for introduction on an optional basis from 2014. Others include Chinese and civil, social and political education.

While these are not the focus of the teachers’ concerns, they will be hit along with the planned roll-out of a new Junior Cycle Student Award.

The award seeks to replace the Junior Cert and is scheduled to be granted to students completing their junior cycle from summer 2017 onwards.

Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland (ASTI) spokeswoman Gemma Tuffy said the impact of the action starting today would be "gradual" rather than immediate. "It will affect schools planning to introduce short courses in September; that will discontinue," she confirmed.

Opposing the school-assessment plan, the ASTI and the Teachers’ Union of Ireland (TUI) argue that, by having to grade their own students, teachers will lose their role as trusted advocates in the classroom. They also recommend the retention of the State certificate as it guarantees the integrity of assessment.

A working group on Junior Cycle reform involving the Department of Education, school managers and other stakeholders, is looking at ways of externally monitoring the school-based assessments to try to address some of the unions’ concerns.

A sub-group of the committee meets next week to examine the Scottish model of assessment and moderation as a possible template. Under the current plan, assessment would account for about 40 per cent of the Junior Cycle award with the remaining 60 per cent coming from a terminal exam.

Minister for Education Ruairí Quinn plans to brief Cabinet this week on the progress to date with the reforms. This includes the completion of introductory training for 89 per cent of English teachers in how the system would work. English is the first subject due to come under the new regime, followed by science.

Separately, the TUI is to begin balloting today on industrial action at Cork Institute of Technology over the introduction of online course delivery.

The union described it as “a cost-cutting exercise” which was being rolled out without an agreement being reached with practitioners/lecturers.