Teachers ballot for industrial action over Junior Cert

Ireland's 27,000 second level teachers have voted unequivocally to take industrial action over plans by the Minister for Education and Skills to introduce fundamental reform of the Junior Certificate. In separate ballots the Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland and the Teachers' Union of Ireland both voted by 88 per cent to 12 per cent in favour of industrial action.

The teachers will go into dispute from April 7th, with industrial action in the form of non-co-operation with the introduction and implementation of Minister for Education and Skills Ruairí Quinn’s plans.

The teachers' action however would not impact on the running of schools nor will students be affected, said ASTI president Sally Maguire. Her union had already circulated a directive to members explaining how to proceed. "The directive will direct teachers not to attend training days or meetings associated with Junior Cert reform. They can't engage in any aspect of school- based assessment or delivery of short courses. Basically they can't do anything associated with reform of the junior cycle," she said.

The department issued a muted response on behalf of Mr Quinn yesterday evening. He noted the outcome of the two ballots, but said a working group on the new Junior Cycle Student Awards was set up in January and was made up of all the education partners.

It continued to meet regularly and was the appropriate forum to address any concerns and discuss proposals in relation to the reformed Junior Cycle, he said.

A series of meetings involving the department and the teachers’ unions over past months has not resulted in agreement on contentious issues related to Junior Cert reform. Some concessions have been made including a significant slowdown in the pace of change, with only the English curriculum meant to reform from the next academic year in September.

A key point of contention relates to plans to jettison the state examinations at then end of Junior Cert year in favour of continual assessment of students by their teachers. This has been rejected by teachers who want the terminal examinations to remain.

“Teachers have always been willing to modernise the Junior Certificate and Junior Cycle education,” said ASTI general secretary Pat King .

“However, they are not prepared to implement educationally unsound proposals which are being unilaterally imposed on them. Teachers believe the Minister’s proposals will undermine education standards. They are demanding genuine consultation on their concerns. The Minister has an opportunity to make sure this happens before industrial action begins to impact on schools.”

TUI general secretary John MacGabhann said his union membership’s vote for industrial action “reflects a deep concern that the Minister’s proposals will impact negatively on the educational experience of young people and on the quality of the education system.

“They want improvements that are based on equity and consistency. They also want a fair assessment system, externally assessed with state certification. We call upon the Minister to engage meaningfully with us.”

The result of the ballot was no surprise, said Ms Maguire. “We had a protest a few week s ago and 20,000 members [involving both unions] were on the streets. It is a very strong message for the minister to say the teachers are not on board about this, they have serious concerns about it and the minister’s proposals are not acceptable.”