Thursday morning’s freezing conditions did not deter teachers around the State from taking to the picket line in protest of the proposed junior cycle reforms.
Jim O’Neill, a metalwork and engineering teacher at St David’s CBS in Artane, joined a small crowd of teachers wrapped up in coats, hats and scarves at the school’s gates in north Dublin to brave the cold in support of the union strikes.
Mr O’Neill, who is also a member of the standing committee of the Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland (ASTI), said teachers are determined to maintain the State Examination Commission’s independent and external marking system at junior cert level.
“The Minister has basically refused to negotiate or to hear what we’re saying about the changes she’s proposing,” Mr O’Neill said.
“The Minister has taken up the gauntlet of a crusade started by Ruairí Quinn and I don’t think she has examined it for herself and asked why we’re so fundamentally opposed.”
Despite calls from the National Parents Council to call off Thursday's strike, Mr O'Neill said the teachers' unions are confident they have widespread support from parents.
“I was around a lot of the schools in this area during the last day of strike and the support from the parents was unified. I think parents are very suspicious when things get localised in this country. There’s pressures and outside influences that can be brought to bear on an examination system.”
He said there was no need to hold a second union ballot over Jan O’Sullivan’s revised junior cycle plan, which would see teachers assessing 40 per cent of marks.
The unions had previously balloted on the plan put forward by former minister Ruairí Quinn.
“Our mandate still stands up. There’s been no significant change in the Minister’s position so we’re still in the same situation as when the members voted. There’s no need for a second ballot.”
Joanne Cunningham, an English teacher at St David’s CBS, says the decision to strike for a second day is about protecting the quality of students’ education.
“We’re not against continuous assessment, we are open for reforms, but every school must be given an exam of the same standard,” Ms Cunningham said. “We’re trying to ensure that every student in the country gets the same education and sits the same exam at the end.”
Ms Cunningham said she worried the introduction of the Minister’s proposed internal marking system would jeopardise the teacher-student relationship.
“By the very nature of secondary education, you form close relationships with your students. It’s not that I don’t feel qualified to mark it, it’s that I think that compromises the idea of a teacher.”
Joseph Costello, who teachers Irish, French and History at the school, said the Minister’s reform plans would affect the “integrity” of school exams.
“I don’t believe we should evaluate our own students purely and simply because it loses the integrity of the exam itself,” Mr Costello said.
“If a student is anonymous, they’re graded equally and fairly.”
He warned without the Junior Cert, students will struggle even more at Leaving Cert level.
“It’s their future at the end of the day and it’s unfair to allow a child into school for five years and [then]sit a formal exam with no previous experience of sitting down and evaluating themselves.”
