Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The Minister is a great woman for distracting us. She is misrepresenting most teachers and educationalists. The teachers support a move away from reliance on a terminal exam, and we all support that principle. The problem is the actual assessment. Take a small school in a village or parish. What about the parents who make their presence felt every day in the primary schools and micro manage every aspect of their children’s lives from their social lives to who they sit beside at school? Some of us would call them pushy parents. Imagine the pressure on the local teacher if such a parent does not like the junior certificate result his or her child gets. Imagine the pressure on the teacher going to the shops or across the community. The Minister is missing out on a very important aspect, independent assessment where no parent can accuse a teacher of giving a preferential mark to his or her own child. This must be examined closely. It is a major problem in wider society. Pushy parents are out there. The Minister and I both know them. They come in and tell people what to do left, right and centre, and they could be a problem in the assessments.

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