Teachers are told talk is better than strike action

LABOUR TD Robert Dowds has told teachers’ unions

“it is better to talk than strike

? after almost 27,000 teachers stopped work last week in a row over Junior Cert reform.

Last Thursday’s walkout by members of the Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland (ASTI) and the Teachers’ Union of Ireland (TUI) followed a day of strike action in December.

And unions have warned that their campaign will continue with plans for a third strike in the country’s almost 730 second-level schools.

The ASTI and the TUI are taking action in opposition to plans for teachers to assess their own students for 40 per cent of the marks in a new-style Junior Cert.

They say they had

“no option

? but to proceed with strike action as talks had not produced a breakthrough.

The general secretary of the ASTI, Pat King, said that while unions would sit down with the Department of Education next Thursday to discuss a way forward, there would be no compromise on the proposal to assess their own students’ work.

Gerry Quinn, TUI President, added:

“We already have an independent, objective, transparent and rigorous State examinations model which maintains public trust, and teachers fully support a move away from an excessive reliance on final written examinations.

“However, we believe that the introduction of school-based assessment for certification poses a serious threat to the credibility of the examination process.

?

Deputy Dowds, who is a former teacher, stressed the importance of reforming second-level education through further negotiation.

“As someone with secondary teaching experience, I know that the current Junior Certificate programme is badly outdated and in urgent need of reform,

? he said.

“Indeed, I can recall the debate on the need for reform being an issue as far back as the late seventies.

“But for the second time in less than two months, tens of thousands of students and their families were hugely disrupted as schools shut their doors.

“It also inflicts unnecessary levels of extra stress on students in what is a crucial period in the education cycle, with exams looming closer.

?

He added:

“Minister O’Sullivan has already moved considerably to meet unions halfway on this issue. I would urge the TUI and the ASTI to sit down at the negotiating table again with the Minister to work through the issues that remain.

?

The National Student Executive (NSE) of the Irish Second-Level Students’ Union (ISSU) said that with mock examinations due to take place shortly nationwide, the teachers’ action would undoubtedly affect students and their studies.

Joanna Siewierska, ISSU Education Officer, said

“I respect the teacher unions and their concerns in relation to the Junior Certificate reforms.

“However, as a Leaving Certificate student I am only 10 days away from sitting my mock exams.

“This second day of strike action is disrupting me and my fellow students’ education at a very crucial and important point in time.

“It is adding unnecessary confusion to the discussion and it is equally unfair to all students in second-level school. The closing of secondary schools needs to stop. Again, we respectfully ask teachers to return to talks with the Minister for Education and Skills.

?

However, the teachers were backed by findings of a poll conducted by MummyPages.ie, Ireland’s largest community of mothers, which provided an insight into how Irish mums feel about the strike action.

“Although the second teachers’ strike caused disruption to a third of all families with secondary school students, MummyPages can reveal that most mums fully support the teachers’ cause,

? a spokesperson stated.

“The research indicated that 73 per cent of mums supported the teachers in their strike and of the 27 per cent who didn’t, 50 per cent supported their cause but just wished strike action could have been averted.

?