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Minister Quinn expresses his regret that teacher unions are to ballot on industrial action relating to new JCSA

Minister calls on unions to engage proactively to address concerns on new Junior Cycle

The Minister for Education & Skills, Ruairí Quinn T.D. has expressed his regret at the announcement by the ASTI and TUI of dates for balloting their members on industrial action on the new JCSA.

“I have listened to the concerns expressed by unions and others in relation to the new JCSA and I have made significant changes in terms of the main areas like pace of change, training for teachers, resources and moderation.

“I believe that our teachers have the best interests of students at heart. I hope they will not vote to disrupt students and schools through industrial action, but rather use the Working Group forum to proactively address any outstanding concerns,” said Minister Quinn.

The second meeting of the Working Group on the new JSCA met last Friday (7th of February 2014). Made up of parents groups, unions, school leaders, management bodies and Department officials, this forum was set up to deal with concerns raised relating to the new JCSA.

The Minister reiterated the commitment to begin the roll-out of the new JCSA in September of this year, with English being the only subject to change. He will issue a circular to schools shortly, outlining the changes to the implementation of the JCSA as previously confirmed at the first meeting of the Working Group in January.

This is to ensure that students, parents and teachers have clarity on what will be happening from the start of the new school year in September 2014.

There have already been commitments to slow down the pace of change for the new junior cycle, with the completion of the changeover now expected in 2022, and not 2020 as originally envisaged. English is the first subject to change, followed by Science in 2015 and then other subjects being rolled out in a measured way.

In relation to training for the new JCSA, for a teacher of two subjects the total training will be in the region of 16 days and even more for English teachers. This is made up of a minimum of four days continuous professional development (CPD) for each subject and a whole school day for each year between now and 2022 as the new JCSA is being implemented.

All other education partners have welcomed the changes and are working constructively to address any outstanding issues.

The Minister is calling on the teacher unions to engage constructively in the talks.

“The new JCSA is all about putting the students at the centre of the learning process rather than exams. It will capture all of the talents and creativity of our young people and move away from the pressured nature of the mock and terminal exams that are now in place,” Minister Quinn concluded.