Pressure is growing on Education Minster Norma Foley to consider an alternative to the traditional Leaving Cert.
Several TDs raised the issue with the minister in the Dáil yesterday, with some supporting a return to calculated grades or a “hybrid model”, and all seeking an early decision on the fate of the exams.
A survey by more than 20,000 members of the Irish Second-Level Students Union (ISSU) is expected to show an appetite for change from normal arrangements.
The findings are due to be released over the weekend but ISSU president Reuban Murray last night gave a clear indication of the mood .
Given the week we’ve just witnessed, you might have missed the fact that many of the country’s secondary school teachers effectively went on strike last Thursday. Their union, the Association of
ASTI urges teachers to reject deal over continued unequal pay for new entrants
The union has said that the proposal involves a “continuation of unequal pay for thousands of second-level teachers”. By Lauren Boland Saturday 9 Jan 2021, 4:07 PM Jan 9th 2021, 4:07 PM 23,478 Views 63 Comments
Image: Sasko Lazarov/Rollingnews.ie
Image: Sasko Lazarov/Rollingnews.ie
A UNION FOR secondary school teachers is urging members to vote against a public pay deal over concerns that it does not address lower pay for teachers recruited since 2011.
The executive council of the Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland (ASTI) has announced that it will ballot members on the agreement, which the union will recommend that members reject.
The ASTI teaching union has directed its members not to comply with plans for Leaving Cert students to attend school for three days a week.
The union, which represents more than 17,500 teachers, said it was not consulted about the plan and had not received sufficient assurances that “schools are sufficiently safe” for students and teachers.
At an emergency meeting on Thursday, the ASTI standing committee decided to direct its members not to co-operate with the arrangements announced by the Minister for Education for in-school teaching.
Unfortunately, the assurances we sought have not been forthcoming.
ASTI President Ann Piggott
The union said it will engage in remote teaching and learning from Monday January 11.
A statement released by the union reads: The ASTI has not been provided with the necessary assurances that schools are sufficiently safe for students and teachers at this time, in the context of the new variant of Covid-19 circulating in the community and the alarmingly high numbers. ASTI Standing Committee decided to direct its members not to co-operate with the arrangements announced by the Minister for Education for in-school teaching, but to engage in remote teaching/ learning provision from Monday, 11 January. The decision is based on significant concerns about the health and safety of students, teachers and other staff.
Speaking after a meeting which confirmed this news, ASTI President Ann Piggott said: The ASTI has repeatedly sought sufficient assurances that schools are safe for students and teachers at this time, in the context of the new variant of Covid-19 circulating in the community and the alarmingly high numbers.