The row about Junior Cert reform is likely to escalate as school principals sign their teachers up for training linked to the new curriculum despite a union ban on co-operation with the changes.
The country’s biggest second-level teachers’ union, the Association of Secondary Teachers in Ireland (ASTI), is boycotting any training or meetings relating to the long-awaited reforms.
However, principals and school authorities in some voluntary secondary schools – staffed by ASTI members – have registered teachers for training in the new junior cycle.
Until now training has taken place with teachers in schools fully or partly staffed by Teachers’ Union of Ireland (TUI) members, which signed up to the reforms last year.
These schools include about 240 run by Education and Training Boards, along with almost 100 community and comprehensives.
Deadline
However, many voluntary secondary schools have given the Department of Education details of subject teachers for participation in junior cycle training ahead of a deadline which expires this week.
There are 378 voluntary schools which are staffed mainly or solely by ASTI members.
The move could allow department officials involved in training to communicate directly with teachers .
It is likely to place ASTI members – especially those in dual-union schools – under increased pressure to participate in training.
Despite the union’s ban on teachers playing any role in classroom-based assessments, all teachers will be required to teach the new junior cycle curriculum.
Implementation of the changes is gathering momentum, according to the department.
The first classroom-based assessments are due to get underway shortly and more than 8,000 teachers have engaged with training programmes to date.
Last week alone, it says, it received double the numbers anticipated at a training session in Athlone.
Dr Pádraig Kirk, director of junior cycle training support services, is pleased at the level of engagement.
“The junior cycle training support service was established to deliver continuous professional development for all teachers and we look forward to a time when all teachers can engage fully with us,” he added.
He said officials did not ask teachers whether they were members of any union.
ASTI members narrowly rejected the new junior cycle in a ballot of its members in September 2015, based on a turnout of 38 per cent.
A directive prohibits members from attending any meetings or training in relation to the reforms.
There is little sign of a resolution. ASTI delegates voted at its annual convention a fortnight ago to deepen its opposition to the reforms.
Progress
An ASTI spokeswoman said its last communication with the department was in December 2015.
“The ASTI is available for talks with the department at any time, and of course will be available to meet the minister when he/she is appointed,” she said.
The reformed junior cycle aims to put less emphasis on rote-learning and more on new approaches to learning.
By combining classroom assessments with a traditional written exam at the end of third year, the “junior cycle profile of achievement” aims to give parents a broader and clearer picture of their child’s progress .
ASTI concerns include the lack of an externally assessed oral exam in modern languages and Irish.
A department spokeswoman said the ASTI’s ban put teachers and students at a risk of disadvantage.
“The department remains willing to support the ASTI in achieving the positive support of their members for the agreement that was reached last year and thereby ensuring that all students can complete all aspects of the new junior cycle programme,” she said.
