The Teachers’ Union of Ireland (TUI) has sought urgent clarification on the status of the Leaving Certificate Applied (LCA).

The union has been advised that some schools and centres have been refused resources to run the programme next year and has described such measures as “a new low” in terms of singling out the most marginalised in our education system for specific cuts placing them at higher risk than ever.

The LCA offers a vital option to those students who wish to follow a more applied and practical alternative to the traditional Leaving Certificate.

The union is demanding clarification and the immediate withdrawal of any restrictions on the programme. TUI estimates the savings to the Exchequer to be around €250,000.

Comments from TUI General Secretary Peter MacMenamin:

“The LCA, which is aimed at students who wish to follow an applied and practical programme with a strong vocational emphasis, has proved hugely successful.
Any attack on this programme represents a new low in terms of targeting the most vulnerable in our education system.

Not every student is suited to the traditional Leaving Certificate. It is therefore vital that alternative programmes which offer both experiential and academic learning methodologies are provided to allow every student the opportunity of reaching their potential.

There has in the past been a recognition that a small additional teaching resource is required by schools to enable them to implement this programme adequately due to its different nature from the traditional Leaving Cert in terms of experiential learning, group work, practical tasks and project work.
  
Schools were invited to participate in this programme in February with a commitment to this resource.  However, it appears now that new schools and those which did not run the programme in the past will not now receive funding.
 
Over 3,400 students sat the LCA examination in 2008, and there is every chance that the many of these students would otherwise have slipped through the cracks of our education system and ended up costing the State vastly more in terms of support payments over their lifetimes. 

Student retention is particularly important in the current economic climate, where there are fewer and fewer opportunities for young people entering the workforce without qualifications with each passing month.

This move makes no economic sense. If anything, it will cost the State considerably more over time than it is saving now. Those students who lose out are highly likely to become dependent on the State in future years and TUI estimates that savings to the Exchequer as a result will be relatively extremely modest. (probably around the cost of 6/7 whole time equivalent teachers - €250,000).    

It is particularly unfair that schools were not informed of the decision until after the deadline for appeals of teacher allocation

Restriction of this vital option will have devastating social and educational outcomes. Some vulnerable students who would have stayed on to sit the LCA will inevitably now drop out of the education system after the Junior Cycle, while those who decide to stay will struggle with courses not suited to their specific learning needs.

Again, this is a direct attack on the most vulnerable members of our society. It is safe to assume that this latest cutback will impact on very few – if any – students in schools in affluent communities which operate selective enrolment policies.

As many as three in ten students in areas of urban disadvantage who start first year currently do not stay on to complete the Leaving Certificate cycle. This already unacceptable ratio will increase further due to this latest cut.

Retrogressive, swingeing cutbacks such as this give an unequivocally negative message to those young people who most require the State’s support.

The Minister for Education should reverse this decision and needs to commit positively to the future of this programme immediately.”