Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Will the Minister tell us the number of students and schools affected by the non-collaboration of the ASTI and its members with the junior certificate cycle reforms? We are coming close to Christmas and the exams will happen not too long in the life of the students and parents after that. With due respect, it is not good enough for the Minister to say this is only for the State Examinations Commission, SEC, and it has nothing to do with the Minister if one significant group of students is getting on with junior certificate reform, as are the schools and teachers. The Minister has not ruled out the possibility of students missing out on a 10% assessment mark. In the scheme of things, it might not seem an awful lot but for a very ambitious student hoping to get a relatively high grade or a weak student, it amounts to a significant portion of marks to miss out on.

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