DELEGATES AT the INTO's annual Northern Ireland conference have voted unanimously against the publication of league tables for primary schools in Northern Ireland.
An emergency motion on assessment was tabled in the wake of the announcement by the Northern Ireland minister for education, Michael Ancram, that pupil assessment will become statutory in September 1996.
The motion, which was carried unanimously, noted that the format which pupil assessment will take is radically changed from that which was first proposed and piloted in 1992-93. "The assessment arrangements in Northern Ireland will be more professionally acceptable than those which operate in England. Pupil assessment at key stages 1 (up to eight years) and 2 (up to the end of primary school) will be based solely on teachers' professional judgment. Teachers' assessment of pupils at key stage 3 (third year of second level) will carry equal weight with externally set tests and centrally funded substitute cover will be made available to enable teachers to carry out pupil assessment." The motion stated that these improvements have resulted from the INTO "Enough is Enough" campaign. Conference reiterated "its outright opposition to the publication of league tables and views with serious concern the minister's stated intention to extend the publication of assessment results on a Northern Ireland basis in the future".
The motion also asked that the publication of league tables at key stage 4 (GCSE, about 16 years) be discontinued, and mandated the union to resist "with every means at its disposal, including industrial action, the introduction at other key stages".
The 1996-97 arrangements are to be monitored with particular regard to manageability, workload, demands on teaching time and the impact on the quality of teaching and learning in the classroom. Following such an evaluation, the Northern committee will consult with the membership on the question of participation in future arrangements. The INTO is a 32-county organisation, with 5,378 members in Northern Ireland, consisting of both primary and second-level teachers. This year, for the first time in 40 years, the INTO's annual congress will be held in Northern Ireland, in Belfast.
