Ms Moira Leydon:

There have been some very interesting questions. Seanadóir Ó Clochartaigh asked if it would provide a better education. One would have to have an open mind, quite frankly. The outcomes of education are always long-term. They are not measurable within five or ten years. They are life-long and that is why education has to be right. We cannot bring in changes which we are not quite sure will have the desired outcomes. That is why the ASTI has become so agitated over the framework.

There are many positive aspects in the framework and it would be foolish to deny that. It is premised upon developing a junior cycle education which reflects the extraordinary changes in the world, in our societies and in the way we live as individuals in social communities. We are asking that we be listened to. We have 20, 30 or 35 years of daily pedagogic experience with young people and we are very concerned about certain matters. There is unanimity within the second level education partners - the management bodies, the principals and the teachers - that our system is not ready for this exponential change just right now. The ASTI is requesting a deferral of certain aspects of the framework, specifically the introduction of English as a completely new subject in September 2014.

We also have deep reservations about the assessment and certification model. I think they have been clearly explained. Assessment must support learning and not just test learning. The current proposals in the framework, which include no provision for an external benchmark or quality assurance process, are deeply flawed. This does not engender confidence among teachers. It certainly will not engender confidence among parents, who are thinking of the progression of their children to senior cycle and the high stakes leaving certificate and so on. We must have an open mind, but we would like committee members to listen to the practitioners. We know the outcomes will not occur tomorrow, but in ten or 15 years time when we reflect on our experience.

To answer Senator O'Donnell's question, it is a very complex package. The framework is probably the most complex educational package to be put before the education community and policymakers in decades. For that reason, we ask that this be taken slowly. It is very complex. It is not just about assessment and short courses. It is about bridging the transition from primary to secondary level. It is about key skills and about developing competencies beyond the cognitive to enable young people to be the resilient, open to learning young people we want and need them to be. By virtue of that very complexity, it is very difficult for teachers to get to grips with it. The difficulties that have been highlighted by committee members are exactly like what is experienced in the staffrooms. The teachers are asking the Minister to hold on for a moment, to listen to them and to engage with them. Much of the rationale for the negative reaction of the ASTI members to the Haddington Road agreement proposals was driven largely by the sense of having policy after policy pushed on us without taking our legitimate concerns into account.