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The nation’s largest teachers union is seeking legal advice for fear that teachers may be sued because of the calculated grades they give this year’s Leaving Cert students.
There are also big concerns around the safe reopening of schools in September, as it was deemed unsafe for students to take the Leaving Cert exams during July and August.
With the teacher support that is crucial in assigning grades for 61,000 students, both second-tier teacher unions have agreed to participate in the Department of Education’s “calculated grades” process.
This followed extensive conversations after last Friday’s momentous announcement that Leaving Cert exams would not take place this summer.
But while the Association of Secondary Teachers, Ireland (ASTI) and the Union of Teachers of Ireland (TUI) say they will support the new “calculated grades” system, both have doubts about the mechanisms of the assessment model.
These include:
* threat of legal action
* accusations of bias
* a protocol to protect teachers from any form of lobbying or scrutiny
When asked if there are fears that teachers may be exposed to legal challenges, ASTI President Deirdre Mac Donald said yes.
“We have big problems that need to be addressed around that,” he said.
“We are going to have our own legal experts on the case.” ASTI will also seek legal clarification from the Department of Education, he told RTÉ.
The union also wants guarantees and protections so that teachers cannot be accused of prejudice. This would include using data that has already been recorded in a school’s system to formulate a student’s grade.
Today, TUI will request the Department of Education to present a protocol to protect teachers from any form of lobbying or scrutiny.
“The professional integrity and independence of teachers must be protected,” said Seamus Lahart, president of TUI.
“They should not be subject to any undue pressure regarding their role.” This protocol also benefits students, since one favors others at a disadvantage, he added.
Progress toward higher education or employment should be fair to all students, regardless of their socioeconomic background or the school they attend, Mr. Lahart added.
“No student should be more disadvantaged as a result of canceling written exams.”
While both TUI and ASTI acknowledge the exceptional circumstances this year that have led to the cancellation of the Leaving Cert, both unions say they do not want to see a precedent set for the future.
There are also concerns that schools can safely reopen in September, Mac Donald confirmed. Education Minister Joe McHugh said that process is now being worked on.
The reopening of the schools and colleges will take place in the last stage of the government’s strategy to get out of the current Covid-19 blockade. They are expected to return in stages.
Meanwhile, advice from the State Examinations Commission (SEC) on how to proceed with exams as planned in July shows a litany of logistical challenges. A filing by the SEC, a copy of which has been seen by the Irish examiner, shows the main problems arising from space, transport and timetables.
A maximum of ten students could have sat in a classroom and 40 in a physical education classroom.
There was also a possibility that students should wear face masks or visors and gloves during exams. The council also included the possibility for students to have temperature controlled.
“Military precision” would have been necessary to queue in and out of schools, and additional spaces would be needed to administer students between exams and while eating.
According to the SEC, schools also would have had to supply PPE to thousands of supervisors.
Any student who was ill, had symptoms, lived with a family member who was ill, isolated or felt, or who had been exposed to the virus would not have been allowed to attend.
There were also problems related to exam supervision, sanitation, and PPE that the SEC would have been required to give supervisors. With only one exam scheduled per day, students would have been waiting to receive their results in late October and appeals by December 2.
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