Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Ní bhíonn aon oibrí ag iarraidh dul amach ar ghníomhaíocht thionsclaíoch. Nuair a dheineann oibrí a leithéid, de gnáth ní bhíonn aon rogha fágtha aige nó aici. De ghnáth, bíonn an próiseas idirbheartaíochta spíonta. Tá cuma ar an scéal seo nach bhfuil an tAire Oideachais agus Scileanna ag éisteacht le múinteoirí na hÉireann - iad siúd atá i mbun teagasc daltaí na hÉireann. Tá an Rialtas ag tabhairt neamhaird do thuismitheoirí na hÉireann freisin.

Is léir go bhfuil faitíos ar dhaoine go bhfuil moltaí an Rialtais bunaithe ar ciorruithe siar in ionad ar athchóiriú an chórais. Níl éinne ar an taobh seo den Teach cinnte dearfa de na hargóintí atá déanta ag an Rialtas ar an bpolasaí seo. Conas a chuireann an polasaí seo daltaí i gcroílár an chórais? Conas atá an polasaí seo ar mhaithe le leas na bpáistí? Is léir nach bhfuil an buille buach ag an Rialtas ar an ábhar tábhachtach seo agus ní mór dóibh druidim siar anois chun macnamh géar a dhéanamh.

Bíonnn urlabhraí Shinn Féin, an Teachta Jonathan O'Brien, ag plé go tréan i gcónaí leis an Rialtas agus ag iarraidh orthu gan dul ar aghaidh in aghaidh tola na múinteoirí. Ba cheart don Rialtas gan an droch pholasaí seo a chur i bhfeidhm in aghaidh tola múinteoirí atá i mbun teagaisc ár bpáistí.

The position of the ASTI is that while teachers are open to using different modes of junior certificate assessment, they object to the change in the teacher's role from advocate to judge. This seems rational. If we think back to our schooling, would we have been treated better if the teacher had been a judge or advocate. Most of us would come to the same conclusion as the teachers. As educators, teachers are best equipped to advise us on the most advantageous way to teach and the best environment for children. They are also best equipped to explain to us the real implications of the change in the teacher-student relationship dynamic. Unions also have a capacity to provide us with details on the difficulties within the education system. There is a capacity problem within the system, as a result of the major damage caused in recent years at the coal face of the education system due to the austerity policies of the Government. These have, in the main, undermined the quality of the education delivered in schools.

The Minister's proposals cannot be analysed in a vacuum and must be viewed in the context of successive cuts in the primary and secondary sectors year after year for the past six years, even up to the 2015 budget in which the capitation grant was cut. These cuts did not need to be made. What makes the Minister's intransigence on this issue even more frustrating is that she is distracting attention from the significant points of agreement on reform of the junior cycle. The teacher unions were very clear on their commitment to having a first class junior cycle for all students and advocated a move away from dependence on final written examinations to the promotion of different types of assessment, including more practical projects and portfolio work. Rather than working with the education sector to progress an ambitious reform objective, the Minister has chosen to plant herself firmly in the mire of intransigence on the issue of assessment, yet she has failed to cobble together a half decent argument as to why she must take this approach. Surely, the Government's prime objective in implementing reform in the junior cycle is to enhance outcomes for students. This is a key point of agreement between educators and the Minister. On that basis, I appeal to the Minister of State present and the Minister to postpone further implementation of the junior certificate reforms and to return to the negotiating table until she reaches agreement.

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