No resolution in sight to divisive junior cycle dispute

Any hopes that a dispute over junior cycle reform would be resolved before the resumption of secondary school next September have faded following contacts between the country’s biggest secondary teachers’ union and the Minister for Education.

A senior delegation from the Association of Secondary Teachers of Ireland (ASTI) met Minister for Education Richard Bruton and other officials last Wednesday in which the union outlined a number of outstanding concerns.

However, Mr Bruton is understood to have said no changes to the framework for junior cycle reform were on the table but his door was open for further discussion or clarification.

Union sources believe there is now little scope for agreement and that the dispute is likely to continue into the autumn.

As a result, thousands of students in schools staffed by ASTI members will automatically lose 10 per cent in their English exams in third year if the union maintains its opposition.

Fianna Fáil's Thomas Byrne has called on the both parties to continue talks in a bid to resolve the impasse.

Signed up

The first classroom-based assessments linked to the reformed junior cycle got under way last May in schools which are staffed by Teachers’ Union of Ireland (TUI) members, which signed up to the reforms last year. In a move designed to allow space for a compromise deal, schools staffed by ASTI members had the option of deferring these assessments until the autumn.

A total of 10 per cent of the final junior cycle will be based on a written assessment task – which is linked to the second classroom-based assessment.

These assessments are now unlikely to take place in about two out of three secondary schools where there are ASTI members. An ASTI directive bans members from taking any part in assessments or training linked to the new reforms.

Sources say the the union put forward three main outstanding concerns over junior cycle reform at last week’s meeting.

They include the lack of external assessments for the oral components of the junior cycle; the common level proposed for examinations; and plans for standardised testing. These issues are likely to be discussed at the union’s standing committee meeting next week.

New approaches

The reformed junior cycle aims to put more emphasis on new approaches to learning. By combining classroom assessments with a traditional written exam, the “junior cycle profile of achievement” aims to give parents a broader and clearer picture of their child’s progress.

Currently classroom-based assessments will take place only in the 278 schools fully or partly staffed by TUI members. They include about 57 “dual union” community colleges.

Despite the ASTI’s ban on teachers playing any role in classroom-based assessments, all teachers will be required to teach the new curriculum. There is concern among some ASTI members that the union is risking losing younger members over its reform resistance.

Delegates at the ASTI convention last month voted to re-state their opposition by directing members not to co-operate with classroom-based assessments linked to the State exam. However, some union members expressed concern that its stance was placing major pressure on members in dual-union schools and would harm the employment prospects of younger members.