A blow was dealt to the Department of Education's hopes of introducing a new model of school inspection when TUI delegates overwhelmingly rejected it.
The 254 vocational schools will not now participate in a pilot project and will not allow Whole School Evaluation to go ahead. Pilot projects are under way in 12 schools, where ASTI and INTO members are co-operating.
There will be problems in the 85 community and comprehensive schools which employ both ASTI and TUI members.
Mr Declan Glynn, the TUI assistant general secretary, said TUI members in these schools would be explicitly directed not to co-operate with WSE. In his opinion, WSE would not be possible in these schools.
WSE involves the examination of "the quality of learning and teaching, the quality of planning and the quality of management" in a school, according to a Department of Education circular.
To tumultuous applause, Mr Brian McGivern, from Donegal, asked teachers "not to be beguiled by the alluring prospects and seductive anodyne phraseology of the Department. Throw it out - baby, bathwater and all." He said the language of WSE was that of the British Ofsted model and urged delegates to "allow no Trojan horse admission to the system".
A Cavan delegate asked if the Department, in the light of demographic decline, would use WSE to "cull some of us off like a sheep farmer". He had been teaching for 25 years and wondered how he had got this far without WSE. Was there a formula for teaching that he did not know of?
Mr Sean Daly, a Clare delegate, said "everybody in the rest of the world says we have a very good second and third-level system. If it ain't broke, why fix it?"
A Monaghan delegate said he had talked to a primary and a second-level principal in Northern Ireland, and the only thing they had in common was that it takes nine months to recover from a whole school inspection. "What other group - lawyers, judges, bankers or accountants - had to undergo this type of inspection? I quote from a Northern Ireland politician - I wouldn't touch it with a 50 ft pole."
The debate galvanised long lines of delegates into queueing for the podium. A Co Roscommon delegate said the Minister's address had indicated that every teacher was entitled to work in a stress-free environment. "How a carload of inspectors or evaluators would help that situation I don't know," he said.
The original Whole School Inspection proposals, drawn up under Ms Niamh Bhreathnach, have been considerably watered down by the Department of Education to placate the teacher unions. The name change, in February this year, from inspection to evaluation reflects the altered nature of the proposals.
However, the emergency motion at TUI congress, which was carried, states: "TUI reaffirms that co-operation between schools and the inspectorate should be encouraged in order to assist teachers in the delivery of the curriculum. However, this congress emphatically rejects the introduction of Whole School Inspection or Whole School Evaluation as proposed."
While a spokesman for the Department expressed disappointment at the vote, he said discussions would continue with the TUI, as promised by the Minister.