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One of the country’s largest teacher unions is calling for clear “safeguards” to prevent parents from putting pressure on teachers over Leaving Cert’s calculated grades.
Education Minister Joe McHugh announced Friday that state tests will not be held this summer for the first time in nearly 100 years.
Instead, students will have the option of receiving teacher-calculated grades based on their schoolwork or passing written exams in late 2020 or early 2021, subject to public health counseling.
The Irish Teachers Union (TUI) has called for “safeguards to ensure that the professional integrity of teachers is protected” under the new system.
John MacGabhann, TUI Secretary General, said guidelines were needed on what would constitute individuals, such as parents, who are trying to compromise the process of calculating a student’s grades.
“There must be a clear sign that any form of pressure is just inappropriate and will not work,” he told The Irish Times.
This would include “benign” or “soft” efforts to influence teachers, and the department needed to clearly establish what would constitute a “parental override”, he said.
Guidelines on how the calculated grading system will work, state teachers “should not, under any circumstances, discuss with any student, or with the parent or guardian of any student, the estimated grades the school presents.”
The guidelines state that allowing discussion would “interfere” with the process being carried out “properly and fairly.”
After a meeting on Friday, the TUI executive committee approved participating with the calculated rating system.
In a statement, the union said students “have the right to move on to the next stage of their lives” and that they need a “mechanism” that allows them to do this without traditional exams.
“The implementation of these emergency measures will not and cannot be considered as a precedent or agreement to operate such measures in future years,” the statement said.
The executive body of the Association of Teachers of Secondary Education of Ireland (ASTI) met on Friday night and debate on the plans continues on Saturday. Sources said that while there were deep reservations, it was also recognized that there was no viable alternative.
School principals, meanwhile, said they were prepared to support the measure as there was no “perfect solution,” while student representatives said the measure finally gave test candidates the necessary clarity. .
The government is concerned about its exposure to legal action by students who may miss out on university places after its decision to replace the Leaving Cert with a “calculated grades” system.
McHugh has admitted that “legal vulnerabilities” exist with the new plan, while the Attorney General is understood to have briefed Ministers on the areas of concern.
It is understood that they relate to the legitimate expectations of students to take an exam, as well as their right to take a university place after obtaining the Certificate of Exit.
Under the plan, students who take the written exams will not be able to take their college places in the next academic year and will have to wait until next year.
How the “calculated grades” will work:
1. Teachers will be asked to provide professional judgment on Leaving Cert’s likely grades based on their work done at the school during the past three years.
2. The school principal will approve the estimated scores provided and the rankings of each student in each subject at the school.
3. A special unit is being established within the Department of Education to process the data provided by each school and to operate “national standardization” to ensure equity among all students.
4. The Department of Education will finalize each student’s grades, as close as possible to the traditional date in mid-August. Formal state certification will also be provided.
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