Mr. Michael Gillespie:

The Teachers’ Union of Ireland, TUI, has engaged extensively in the senior cycle review process with the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment, the State Examinations Commission, the OECD and our members - all 20,000 of them. The review of senior cycle is an opportunity for the political system to respond positively to the TUI’s call for an adequately funded and high-quality public education system that caters for the needs of a very diverse student body.

The TUI’s position is clear and unambiguous: State certification enjoys public trust. TUI members are fundamentally opposed to assessing their own students for State certification. External assessment by the State Examinations Commission, SEC, must be retained. Changes to assessment models must be based on sound educational principles rather than the unreliable weathervane of populist commentary. Throughout the Covid-19 crisis TUI members have been engaging with emergency assessment processes on a strictly without-precedent basis so that final year students could progress to the next stage of their lives.

Continuous assessment, CA, is sought by some commentators. Our schools already use such assessment. Formative assessment, by its nature, is continuous and enhances teaching and learning. Moving to a CA model for State certification purposes, however, would be counterproductive. It would increase - not reduce - stress for students and teachers, inevitably lead to over-assessment, compromise objective standards and undermine public trust. Furthermore, it would fundamentally and negatively change the pupil-teacher relationship, possibly removing the emphasis on the supportive aspect of the relationship.

The excessive focus on CAO points is not a product of the leaving certificate. The CAO runs a separate process that allots places in higher education that is superimposed on the leaving certificate. The CAO points race is a reflection of a media obsession with progression to third level and with high-points courses. The points race leads to invalid and unfair comparisons. Changing leaving certificate assessment modes to tackle the CAO points race would be to base change on a misdiagnosis of the real problem.

Senior cycle subjects are continually evolving. Most already have additional components of assessment, involving project, oral and practical work, that is set, administered and examined by the SEC. The TUI has called for continuous assessment every year, thereby reducing the pressure in sixth year.

Every subject and programme has intrinsic value. Senior cycle should continue to be broad based as this best prepares learners for life and active citizenship and best anticipates an ever-changing society where complex challenges, global and personal, abound.

From time to time, certain disciplines may be considered especially important, by governments or employers. However such perceived hierarchies are often transient in nature. Reform of the senior cycle must be inclusive and must cater for all students and their varied talents. Therefore, the ring-fencing of leaving certificate applied, LCA, must be removed so that students can undertake a mix of subjects that would enable them to move directly into apprenticeships. Equally, the vocational subject groupings associated with the leaving certificate vocational programme, LCVP, need to be amended or abolished.

Given the relentless developments in technology, ongoing review of the Government’s strategy is critical to facilitating the appropriate integration of new technologies as supports for teaching and learning for 21st century competencies. Significant investment is urgently needed.

Schools rely on support agencies, especially when working with students experiencing crisis. However, schools often find it difficult to access support because those agencies are under pressure. Most schools make every effort to create an inclusive environment for all learners, regardless of their backgrounds or aptitudes. Targeted investment, especially more teachers to reduce class sizes, would greatly assist this effort. The depletion of middle management posts since 2009 has resulted in a damaging reduction in support for students. The extra teachers provided to schools during the Covid-19 crisis should be retained tin order o enable schools to provide subject and programme choice at appropriate levels and to ensure well-being.

Meaningful curricular provision must be made for students with special and additional educational needs who took L1 and L2 learning programmes for junior cycle and who wish to proceed to senior cycle education.

In the context of leaving certificate Irish, the TUI believes: that foundation level must be retained; that the oral and aural components should retain their existing proportion of marks; that the draft learning outcomes require significant development; and if a T1-T2 approach is to be introduced and especially if bonus points are contemplated, that every school must be assisted to provide T1 because, otherwise, a new layer of disadvantage will be created.

I thank members for listening to the views of the profession. In its full submission to the committee, the TUI has set out its position in regard to senior cycle reform more extensively and has included a set of recommendations for consideration.