The Teachers’ Union of Ireland (TUI) has repeatedly sought concrete practical details about the proposed Junior Cycle reform which is due to commence next September. To date, the Department of Education and Skills has failed to provide this information.
If the Department has not addressed the union’s concerns after a meeting of the Working Group on Junior Cycle scheduled for 17th January, TUI will ballot members to secure agreement not to co-operate with the implementation of the proposed reform.
In a series of bilateral meetings with the Department of Education and Skills, TUI has made plain its grave concerns about various aspects of the proposed reforms at Junior Cycle. Particular concerns relate to:
- The integrity and validity of proposed assessment methods
- The absence of an appropriate form of national certification of student attainment
- The demonstrated lack of capacity at school level to accommodate the proposed changes as a result of cuts imposed in a series of austerity budgets
- The probable adverse effects on smaller schools, as a consequence of exacerbating inequity in curricular provision
- The absence of the structures required to support equitable and effective implementation in the wake of the removal of thousands of middle management posts
- The inadequacy of schools’ infrastructure (including Information and Communications Technology (ICT) platforms and connectivity)
- The very significant increase in workload and administrative functions that would arise
- The inadequacy of the continuous professional development that is to be provided
Commenting on the union’s concerns, TUI President Gerard Craughwell said: “TUI has consistently informed the Department of the serious disquiet of its members and has stated unequivocally that ‘drifting’ into the proposed Junior Cycle is not acceptable. The union has repeatedly sought concrete, practical implementation details which we would consider objectively. To date, the Department has failed to provide these details.”
“The Department has scheduled a meeting of the Working Group on Junior Cycle for 17th January 2014. If the Department has still not addressed our concerns after the meeting of this Working Group, TUI will without delay ballot members to secure agreement not to co-operate with the implementation of the proposed Junior Cycle programme.”