The Irish National Teachers Organisation (INTO) is taking legal advice to determine whether teachers will have to comply with compulsory testing of seven and 11-year-olds.
The Minister for Education, Mr Dempsey, has given teachers "no clear indication" of what their obligations would be under the proposed standardised tests, the union said. It was taking legal advice in order to establish its position and advise its members before the new school year.
"The Minister hasn't made it clear who is legally obliged to carry out these tests, and if schools will have an obligation to pass the results on to the State. Or if it's decided to get other people to do it, will teachers have to co-operate with that," an INTO spokesman said.
Mr Dempsey and his Department had made no contact with the union regarding the tests. "We would have liked to have heard from him before he announced this...this is a very radical policy change that was announced without consultation.
"This has clearly come as a shock, not just to us but to our education partners," he said.
"There is an issue of compellability. If the Minister is to introduce these tests, can he compel parents or will parents allow their children to be tested in this manner?"
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