Proposal To Resolve Junior Cycle Reform Dispute Agreed

A plan to resolve the dispute over Junior Cycle Reform has been agreed between the Department and the leadership of the second-level teaching unions.

ASTI and the TUI, along with Minister O'Sullivan, have committed their support and strong endorsement to these clearly stated proposals, outlined in a document entitled "Junior Cycle Reform: Joint Statement on Principles and Implementation".

In a statement, ASTI said: "This document will be presented by the leadership of both unions to their executives on Friday. The Department will also present the document for discussion to all education stakeholders. The proposals will be published in full following these meetings on Friday evening.

"Discussions leading to this proposed resolution have followed recent commentary by Minister O'Sullivan, who outlined the following five key principles which must underpin any reform of the Junior Cycle:

• The need to recognise a wide range of learning

• A requirement to considerably reduce the focus on one terminal exam as a means of assessing our students

• The necessity to give prominence and importance to classroom based assessment

• Greater professional collaboration between teachers to be a feature of our schools

• Both parents and students to get a broader picture of each student's learning throughout the whole of junior cycle.

"The teacher unions responded positively to these five key principles and sought engagement on how they might be implemented in a mutually acceptable and appropriately resourced way," it added.

(CD/JP)