The Department of Education and Science has yet to respond to the decision of the Information Commissioner to publish individual schools' examination results.
A spokesman for the Department says "no decision has been made on the course of action to be taken" following the release of the Commissioner's decision. "We will review the 37-page decision (from the Commissioner) on this matter and we will respond after we have done that," he said, adding that "one way or another we haven't taken a decision".
A number of representative groups have reacted negatively and strongly to the decision of Kevin Murphy, the commissioner, to publish school results. Joe Carolan, president of the TUI, has called on the Minister to appeal to the High Court to overturn the decision to release results on a school-by-school basis. "I believe the Department should not release any material which would facilitate spurious and unfair comparisons which could wreak educational havoc in our schools," he says.
The TUI opposes exam league tables on the grounds that such exam results would result in weaker students being neglected and low achievers would be diverted away from the examination system. And it fears that schools will use various methods to attract in brighter students and avoid students from deprived backgrounds.
The union also opposes the idea of publishing exam results because "it would damage vocational school and community and comprehensive schools" which have a larger intake of disadvantage students and students with disabilities, he points out, and so league tables would result in children not being treated equally.
Carolan also believes that publishing the results of the Leaving Cert, which measures a very narrow range of competencies, would put an even greater emphasis on this range and "further distort their value". Finally, he says, "it would serve to turn all education establishments into `grind schools' and distort the true meaning of education".
John Whyte of the National Parents Council (Post-Primary) also hopes the Minister will appeal the decision. "What school will want any child with special needs or any child who will bring the average results down," he asks. "What people are really looking for is information about schools. This would only show very limited academic success."
Senator Joe O'Toole, general secretary of the INTO, says this would be "one of the most regressive and damaging things we could do. I am completely in favour of accountability but that should take place through the whole school evaluation system."
Charlie Lennon of the ASTI called the publishing of league tables "a crude Thatcherite mechanism used to denigrate schools" and it would provide "an invidious basis for comparison between schools".
