Responding to the Minister for Education and Skills today, the second-level teacher unions - the ASTI and the TUI - said they are willing to engage in talks on the Framework for Junior Cycle on the basis that those talks address teachers’ concerns about assessing their own students and the resourcing of the Framework.
“It is misleading for the Minister to state that the unions have ‘steadfastly failed to move’,” said ASTI President Philip Irwin. “We have made clear to the Minister that we are willing to engage on many of the proposals contained in the Framework for Junior Cycle. We have supported a move away from a single terminal exam and the inclusion of portfolios and project work etc. In addition, teachers have implemented a wide range of changes to the Junior Cycle curriculum over the last 10 years, and will continue to do so. This has included the introduction of project maths, a new science syllabus, and group work, especially in CSPE.”
“Despite the Minister’s decision to change the original proposals, the introduction of 40 per cent school based assessment would compromise the credibility and transparency of the examinations process,” said TUI President Gerry Quinn. “A system of teachers assessing their own students for state exam purposes will significantly change the relationship between the teacher and student. We agree with the Minister that new modes of assessment such as practical work and portfolios are an important development. We support this. However, we want all State exam components to be externally assessed. In recent months we have exhausted all available avenues in an effort to have our concerns addressed.”
Last week talks between the teacher unions and the Minister for Education and Skills failed to resolve the impasse over the Framework for Junior Cycle. Twenty-seven thousand teachers who are members of the ASTI and the TUI will engage in a one day strike on Tuesday, December 2nd. A further strike day will take place in January 2015, a date to be decided.