Charlie McConalogue (Donegal North East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Minister outlined how it is important junior cycle reform is achieved through dialogue, consultation and consensus. Unfortunately, these were absent in the approach taken by the former Minister, Deputy Ruairí Quinn. Despite his welcome willingness to bring reforms forward in the junior certificate, the way he went about it has left very few of the stakeholders on the bus with the first reforms being introduced in September with the possibility of industrial action occurring. All of this is happening with the former Minister, Deputy Quinn, not in charge of it anymore. It is important the new Minister, Deputy Jan O’Sullivan, takes a different approach to ensure these reforms are implemented successfully. It is not the right footing to start off on when there is an industrial dispute in the background.

The Minister informed me that 10% of English teachers have not taken part in the necessary induction courses for the new curriculum which will start on 1 September. She also said the timetable as to how the other reforms will be rolled out has already been re-arranged because of the impasse. It is now time to take a fresh approach. The Minister should postpone the introduction of the new English curriculum in September until the following year alongside science. By that stage, all involved will be on board. The genuine concerns of parents, teachers and the wider community about independent assessment of the written part of the examination, accounting for 60% of it, will have been addressed. My party and the rest of the House support much-needed junior certificate reform. However, we do not support the approach taken by the former Minister, Deputy Ruairí Quinn, which has left the reforms, so important to our education system, mired and will result in them taking off on the wrong footing. Will she consider deferring the implementation of the new junior certificate for 12 months to ensure we are properly prepared for it and that it happens in an appropriate manner?

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