Minister insists Junior Cert overhaul will go ahead

Deireadh Fómhair 22, 2012

The major overhaul of the Junior Certificate will proceed as planned despite teachers’ claims they have not been consulted, Education Minister Ruairi Quinn insisted yesterday.

While the executive of the Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland (Asti) met to consider the changes announced last month by Mr Quinn, he was outlining the plans to school principals at their annual conference in Galway. Among the planned changes to be phased in from 2014 is that teachers will set and mark exams and project work for their own students. Irish, English, and maths will continue to be set by the State Examinations Commission, for a few years. Mr Quinn told the National Association of Principals and Deputy Principals that the changes will go ahead as announced.

“The decisions have been made, that’s my responsibility as a politician and minister — to make decisions and then consult people about how to implement them,” Mr Quinn said.

“It’s an important distinction. Some of our colleagues in the education space have confused the two.”

An Asti statement said its standing committee has made plans for a consultation among its members over the coming months, with the findings to be given to Mr Quinn after a national conference in April.

“There is a lot of anger in schools that the views and experiences of teachers were not sought before these reforms were announced,” Asti president Gerry Breslin said.

The plan was based largely around a draft framework produced by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment, which includes teacher union representatives, a year ago. Mr Quinn went further than its recommendations by making the entire exam and assessment plans school-based.

“While the Junior Certificate has flaws, one of its greatest strengths is that it has a high status in the minds of students, teachers, and parents. The decision to axe State certification at junior cycle level will have a negative impact on students’ educational experiences,” Mr Breslin said.

Mr Quinn said yesterday there should be no additional work for teachers and that training will be provided on assessment methods and moderation procedures to ensure fairness and transparency. School work done in second and third year will be worth 40% of marks in each subject and will be set and marked by students’ own teachers. Mr Quinn said he had incorrectly referred to this element as continuous assessment. “It’s not continuous assessment, it’s periodic work programme assessment, I want to clarify that,” he said.

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Parents to be surveyed on school patronage

Deireadh Fómhair 15, 2012

Another area of Dublin has been included in the list of areas where parents will be surveyed on the possibility of replacing a Catholic primary school with a new patron.
The Department of Education is to begin surveying five of the areas this month and extend it to the other 39 areas next month. However, it is understood issues which have arisen with some parties to the process have delayed the exercise. The announcement of a new primary school to be opened in Dublin 4 in the short-term, means prospective patrons are now being asked instead if they wish to take over a school in the Ballyfermot/Chapelizod/Palmerstown area. The Irish Examiner has also learned at least five groups have expressed interest in becoming patrons of new schools in some or most of the 43 areas already identified, in the event there is parental demand for change.

They include established patrons: City and county VECs in the relevant areas, the multi-denominational schools group Educate Together, and all-Irish schools’ patron An Foras Pátrúnachta. Interest has also been expressed by Nigerian-founded church the Redeemed Christian Church of God, which applied unsuccessfully last year to become patron in three areas of Dublin where new primary schools are planned. The National Learning Network has also sought to become a patron. The applicant patrons will be banned from doing leaflet drops under a Department of Education code aimed at ensuring a level playing field. A spokesperson for the department said details of the survey process and where they will be carried out will be announced later this month. In each area, the parents of all primary pupils and those with children not yet at school will be asked if they are satisfied with current choices of schools and, if not, which of the patrons interested in taking over a school in their area they would prefer. The areas include 12 in the Dublin Catholic archdiocese, and four each in Tuam, Killaloe, and Waterford & Lismore. There are three areas each in the Cloyne and Cork & Ross dioceses.

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Quinn: Radical reforms will end ‘teaching to the test’

Deireadh Fómhair 5, 2012

Education Minister Ruairi Quinn says his plan for the Junior Certificate will benefit students and mean teachers are no longer under pressure to “teach to the test”.

His radical changes will see junior cycle students examined entirely by schools instead of the State.

He has largely rubber-stamped the reforms proposed last November to change the focus of the junior cycle to learning instead of preparing students for a final exam.

However, he went beyond what the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) advised him by deciding all elements of the Junior Certificate will eventually be set and marked by students’ teachers instead of by the State Examinations Commission.

He said regular in-school assessment at lower second-level was a feature of the best education systems.

The other main elements will include:

* Most students sitting exams in eight to 10 subjects;
* The option to take up to four short courses, with marks in two to be used in place of a traditional subject;
* Final exams will be worth 60% of total marks and, except for English, Irish, and maths, will be taken in normal school time in May;
* A new five-point awards system will replace the traditional system of A, B, etc down to no grade;
* The phased introduction of changes, starting with students entering second-level in 2014, with third-year students in 2020;
* The SEC will eventually withdraw from setting and correcting the Junior Certificate.

However, though Mr Quinn says the plan will liberate teachers and students, and give parents more information on pupils’ achievements, unions have strong concerns.

The Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland said it would be grossly naïve to presume a certificate awarded by a school would hold the same status as one awarded by the State, and ending an anonymously marked exam system will impact negatively on perceptions of impartiality and student-teacher relations.

“This is not about being paid to correct exams, we’re angry that there has been no consultation with us, or with parents and school managers. And we don’t have faith that the resources and funding for training or for administering exams in schools will be provided,” said ASTI general secretary Pat King.

The Teachers’ Union of Ireland said there was serious concern about increased workload against a background of slashes to school staffing and other cutbacks.

Mr Quinn rejected the TUI’s assertion that key elements of the plan were driven by budgetary rather than educational rationale. He said significant professional development for teachers and principals would start next year.

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