An emergency joint motion brought before the union’s annual conference in Co Wexford today passed unanimously. A similar motion was passed by the Association of Secondary Teachers in Ireland (ASTI) on Tuesday.
The TUI said Education Minister Helen McEntee decided to proceed with the phasing in of the accelerated senior cycle redevelopment, “despite reasonable calls from the TUI and the ASTI for a pause to allow for proper consultation, planning and resourcing”.
This led to intensive talks starting between unions and the Department of Education on April 10.
The TUI’s motion states that if these talks do not deliver an outcome that can be put to ballot, both unions will “utilise all mechanisms available, up to and including a ballot for industrial action, to defend professional standards and protect student outcomes”.
TUI president David Waters said the intensive talks were welcomed by the union – and will resume next week – but “to date these have yielded very little”.
“There are a myriad of issues facing the senior cycle and unless we see tangible results from these negotiations, the full weight of the Union will be called into action, including possible strike action, to ensure teachers, students, and schools are not left behind,” Mr Waters said.
Under the new plans, Leaving Cert students will be awarded more marks for project work and less for written exams.
The changes are due to come into effect in September.
However, teachers have warned that they will not have enough time to adapt.
A motion brought before the TUI’s conference states there are “huge disparities” in resources between schools and other second-level state funded institutions. When Ms McEntee began her address of the conference, teachers held up placards saying “no senior cycle redevelopment without us” and “we speak for our students too – please listen to us”.
Minister McEntee said the current exam system “does not always fairly reflect students’ different talents and capacity”.
“I know that the TUI supports the need for reform. How we achieve this has been the subject of intensive engagement with myself, my Department and our agencies and the education partners. The TUI’s leadership is making a strong contribution in these talks and your president and general secretary have argued strongly for concrete additional supports which I want to see delivered. Thanks to this, we are now well advanced and I would like to see these talks completed by early May.
“I want to assure you that I am listening and my officials are actively considering and engaging on your proposals.”
The TUI is calling on the Department of Education to “immediately defer” the implementation of new Leaving Cert curriculum specifications.
Concerns have been raised that the redevelopment poses significant challenges including the potential implications of Artificial Intelligence (AI), increased workload and time constraints.
The changes will see a minimum of 40pc awarded for projects, practicals, oral exams and research.
This will first be rolled out for science subjects and business studies.
“If senior cycle redevelopment is to succeed there must be a commitment to more resources, both capital and current, so that science labs can be upgraded, and the necessary equipment to implement all aspects of senior cycle is readily available,” Mr Waters said.
“Presently, some schools are far better resourced than others, resulting in a huge discrepancy between lab and sports facilities from one school to another. Senior cycle redevelopment should be viewed as an opportunity to create a more egalitarian education system, to level the playing field. The reality is, you can introduce all the changes and redevelopment you want, but if students are still walking into the same outdated laboratories, with the same shortage of materials, with the same underdeveloped resources, this will not be a success.”
If talks over reforms fail to resolve union concerns, the Government faces the threat of industrial action by all second-level teacher unions.
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