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ASTI has withdrawn from discussions with the Department of Education aimed at finding a solution to test this year’s Leaving Certificate students.
In a move that ruins the talks process, the secondary teachers union said it is withdrawing pending an assurance that negotiations will focus on what it says are the minister’s stated goals, planning the examinations and the scope of the corresponding measure.
The union has dismissed as “unacceptable” what it says is a plan that would effectively see students preparing for two versions of a Leaving Certificate, with Calculated Grades as the dominant option and Leaving Cert exams filling in the assessment gaps.
In a statement issued tonight, the union’s general secretary, Kieran Christie, said the union had entered into a process of good faith talks “to explore the position whereby, if the abandonment certificate or some elements of it are go ahead, it’s a fair and credible choice or option. It would be available to students. ”
However, he said it was clear to the union that the approach being developed would not provide the meaningful Leaving Certificate experience that students deserve.
The Department of Education has said it is puzzled and disappointed by ASTI’s decision to withdraw from the talks.
In a statement, he said that at no stage in today’s discussions did ASTI indicate its intention to take this action.
He said the minister and her officials would continue to work with all representative education bodies, including teachers’ unions, to provide certificate of completion exams and a corresponding measure for exam students.
“Fairness and certainty for the class of 2021 is at the core of what we want to achieve in these commitments. We are happy to engage with everyone involved to achieve this goal,” the statement said.
Labor Party Education spokesman Aodhan O Ríordáin has said he would “encourage” ASTI to return to the Leaving Cert 2021 talks. He told RTÉ News that he said: “The stakes are high for students, who need to see work educational partners together. “
Last Friday, Education Minister Norma Foley announced the initiation of bilateral talks with post-primary unions and other education partners with a view to reaching an agreed process for this year’s Bachelor Certificates.
He said he wanted to offer students “two different processes: exams and” a corresponding measure, “understood as calculated grades or a similar form of alternative assessment.
The minister said on Friday that exams should be available to students, but that given the impact on student learning both last year and this year, a “parallel” approach also needed to be explored.
Confidential bilateral talks began over the weekend. Tonight, ASTI said that since Friday the process was unfolding “in a way that would see the Exit Certificate relegated to the background with Calculated Ratings as the main option.”
The union says the lack of student assessment data this year would make delivering a credible Calculated Grades process extremely challenging.
Calling on the minister to re-focus the talks “so that this cohort of students receives a meaningful experience with the Certificate of Graduation, which they rightly deserve,” Mr. Christie said that “given the widely accepted additional stress that students are currently experimenting, it is remarkable that the only option being explored is that they effectively prepare for two versions of a Bachelor’s Certificate instead of one. “
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