Notice about the industrial action on the gates of the Presentation Secondary School. Pic: Jim Campbell
NO ONE is opposed to reform – that much is clear after spending a morning on the pickets with teachers from the six schools around Wexford town and district on Thursday, just weeks before Mock examinations begin.
In the second of nationwide ASTI and TUI strikes, teachers took turns on the picket lines brandishing signs with messages such as “Protect education standards” and “Equity and fairness for students”, in the hope of sending a message to Education Minister Jan O’Sullivan.
The crux of the argument is over the issue of assessment – teachers do not want, when it comes to State awards and examinations, to set or correct their own students’ papers.
At present, correcting of exam papers is done externally and anonymously as each student is identified only by an exam number.
Fintan O’Mahoney, the ASTI representative for Wexford and Waterford explained that they were not opposed to reforming the Junior Cert cycle but said that if teachers had to correct their own students’ State exams then their relationship with the student, and with parents, would change.
He also said that there was a fear that a difference in standards would emerge and create a two-tier education system where a Junior Cert from one school would be worth more than one from another.
The Echo met teachers from outside the six schools in Wexford town and District: Loreto, St. Peter’s, CBS, Presentation, Wexford Vocational College and Bridgetown Vocational College.
[Full coverage and photos in this week’s Echo newspaper]