July is normally a quiet month in the education calendar. But events in the High Court this week could upset this tranquility as the controversial question of exam league tables comes into sharp focus.
Three newspapers are attempting to access Leaving Cert results for all the State's schools and should they succeed, the education landscape could be seriously altered.
While a reserved judgment is likely, both sides are anxious to win the case, which pits the Sunday Tribune, the Sunday Times and the Kerryman against the Department of Education.
The newspapers are attempting to use the Freedom of Information Act to access the Leaving Cert results for 1998, which they plan to compile in UK-style league tables.
Such tables have proved to be controversial in Britain, where they are published annually and many educationalists here have warned that if they are introduced into the State, poorer schools will be stigmatised and parents will "cherry pick" the high-performing schools. However, the newspapers argue parents have a right to the information so they can compare schools. They add that the information will also introduce badly needed accountability into the education system. After being refused twice by the Department of Education, the newspapers appealed to the Information Commissioner, Mr Kevin Murphy. In October 7th he decided the newspapers were entitled to the results for 1998 and ordered the then Minister for Education, Mr Martin, to hand them over.
Mr Martin decided to appeal this to the High Court and claimed Mr Murphy erred in law in finding that giving the newspapers access "could not be expected to prejudice the procedures and effectiveness of tests and examinations".
He also claimed that giving the newspapers the records could have a "significant adverse effect" on the management of the Department of Education.
At a preliminary hearing on June 22nd, Mr Bryan Murray, for Mr Murphy, said his client was charged with the overall operation and administration of the Freedom of Information Act (1997) and he carried out this function when he found in favour of the newspapers.
Another aspect to the case is that during Mr Murphy's review of the newspapers' applications, the Education Act passed into law. This bans the compilation of exam league tables and the release of information to bring this about.
The Department in an affidavit lodged in November argued this further supported its case. However, Mr Murphy, in his judgment, said the newspapers made their applications before this Act passed into law. While the newspapers, at best, will only be allowed access the 1998 results, even compiling figures from two years ago into a league table would represent a huge disclosure for many teachers and educationalists.
While Dr Woods, the Minister for Education, is a party to the case, his predecessor vociferously opposed the release of the information and if the Department loses, it will call into question his decision to go down the legal route.
While the importance of the case is clear, the chances of the newspapers getting the results in the short term may be slim because the Department can appeal the outcome.
The opponents of league tables hope that even if the newspapers get the figures they will be so out of date as to be irrelevant. In the hearing on June 22nd, counsel for the newspapers, Mr Hugh Mohan SC, emphasised the newspapers were keen to get on with the case.
This is for obvious reasons: under the Education Act the publication of league tables is prohibited. In other words, the only point at issue is the 1998 results. Nevertheless, the publication of Leaving Cert results from any year over the last decade would be likely to attract widespread interest - welcome or not.