Green TD accused of playing ‘political football’ with ASTI dispute

Green Party deputy leader Catherine Martin has called for a guarantee that Junior Certificate students will not lose out on marking if the ASTI teachers' dispute continues.

Ms Martin said the Department of Education should have a "plan B" in place, contingency measures to ensure that students would not lose 10 per cent of their English grade if the dispute affected their ability to participate in classroom assessments. But Minister for Education Richard Bruton accused the Dublin Rathdown TD of "seeking to play political football with something that is really important".

Industrial action

The ASTI, which has voted overwhelmingly for industrial action over reduced pay for new teachers, has previously voted against class-based assessment as part of the curriculum.

Mr Bruton said it was unheard of to advocate that the examination system “should be undermined because one trade union has decided not to co-operate in teaching it”.

When Ms Martin said she was advocating for children, Mr Bruton replied: “That is a very irresponsible position.”

He said the TD should be asking the ASTI to allow the derogation so that children who have studied the curriculum can sit the full exam.

The Green Party deputy leader said “the Minister needs a plan B”, but Mr Bruton insisted: “We have to defend the integrity of the examination system. We cannot have an individual union deciding it will undermine something that has been negotiated with all the trade unions over years and agreed by all except one in a vote with only a 38 per cent turnout.”

No guarantee

Ms Martin, who raised the issue in the Dáil, said the Minister had told the

Oireachtas

Committee on Education and Skills that he could not guarantee that students taught by ASTI teachers would not lose out on 10 per cent of their English grade if the dispute affected their ability to participate in classroom-based assessments.

Ms Martin called on the Minister to accept the “urgent need to have a contingency plan in place”.