
Second teachers' union votes unanimously for potential industrial action over Leaving Cert reforms
A second teachers' union has voted unanimously to consider industrial action should the implementation of major senior cycle reform proceed as planned next September.
Introducing the motion of consequence at the Teacher's Union of Ireland's annual congress in Wexford, delegates argued the infrastructure necessary to support the changes were currently insufficient and would not be ready in time for when the new system goes live.
The new reforms, the most significant seen to the Leaving Cert schedule in more than a century, will see a fundamental move in emphasis away from written exams, with a minimum of 40% of marks for relevant subjects to come from project work.
Criticisms of the reforms include they will exacerbate the advantages of better-funded schools, and will leave assessments vulnerable to the threat of generative AI, for which teachers have argued there are no ethical nor practical guidelines in place.
After a 10-minute debate, the motion passed unanimously among delegates, meaning both the ASTI and TUI have now voted for potential industrial action to avert the changes being introduced in five months' time.
Speaking to media at the same time the motion was being debated, minister for education Helen McEntee stressed she believed her department was in 'lockstep' with the unions 'in terms of the fact that there needs to be change to the Leaving Cert'.
She said her current 'intensive' engagement with the unions regarding the pending reforms amounted to seeing 'what more I can do to support them'.
Regarding the possibility of industrial action, she said: 'I don't see there should be a need to get to that point."
She acknowledged, however, that no comprehensive guidance has been issued in terms of AI, adding guidance would be issued 'in the coming months', a statement likely to be met with unhappy responses from the gathered teachers, who had repeatedly expressed their unhappiness with the tardiness of the provision of those guidelines across the two days of their congress.

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


RTÉ News
5 hours ago
- RTÉ News
McEntee: Difficult to find special class places in Dublin
The Minister for Education says there have been difficulties finding a place in a special class for some children in Dublin. Helen McEntee has been taking questions in the Dáil about the provision of classes for children with additional educational needs. She says that 399 special classes (287 Primary, 112 Post-Primary) have been sanctioned for the next school year - bringing to 3700 the number of special classes throughout the country. Just under 3,300 children have been identified by parents to the Department of Education since mid-February, she said. Close to 4,000 places are being made available nationwide. The Minister told Sinn Féin's Education spokesperson, Darren O'Rourke, that the vast majority of special classes had opened for enrollment. "Schools have now been informed of their SNA allocations for September," she said. She said there will be over 23,000 SNAs this September, the highest ever amount. Mr O'Rourke said he wanted to drill down into the headline figures, saying they had been iterated for some time. He asked about children who don't yet have an appropriate school place for September, and whether that figure was available today. Mr O'Rourke said that "last year we were notified at the start of September that 126 children didn't have a place." He pointed out that at a protest last Saturday, it was said that 60 children still didn't have a place. Minister McEntee said she'd been meeting with the National Council for Special Education and that as of yesterday, over 92% of children had been allocated a place. She said that outside of Dublin, many counties had either allocated a place or had "pathways to a place." "The challenge is with Dublin", the Minister said. She said that schools were working hard, but admitted that the need was greater than it ever had been before. "Where schools had been sanctioned and haven't opened, they're being engaged with." 10.33 Mr O'Rourke said he hoped the Minister would keep the Dáil updated on figures. He also mentioned four children in Sligo, five in Kerry and some in other areas who had yet to get a place. "Any child that's known to the NCSE, be it in Kerry or anywhere else, as far as I'm concerned, there are places biggest challenge is in Dublin."


Irish Examiner
16 hours ago
- Irish Examiner
Letters to the Editor: Department must respect decisions from ASTI
As a post-primary teacher, I am writing to express my concern regarding the accelerated timeline of the senior cycle redevelopment programme. I strongly urge education minister Helen McEntee to pause this acceleration and not to penalise ASTI members who have voted overwhelmingly (68% to 32%, 73% turnout) to reject the senior cycle redevelopment implementation support measures. In a separate ballot, ASTI members also voted 67% to 33% in favour of industrial action if necessary. This is a powerful signal of the profession's genuine and widespread concern. ASTI's position is based on well-researched and well-documented realities. Many schools, especially Deis and smaller rural schools, currently lack the capacity and resourcing to deliver such wide-ranging changes effectively. Teachers are being asked to take on significantly increased workload without adequate training, time, or infrastructure. The risks of insufficient authentication of additional assessment components (AACs), challenges around AI, and inequality of provision are very real and have not been sufficiently addressed. The department of education's press release outlines several measures, but these do not address the core issues raised by teachers. Moreover, the decision to accelerate this reform by a full year under Ms McEntee's predecessor has created deep mistrust. Teachers were not consulted on this change of pace, which is being imposed on a system already under strain. The current approach risks harming the very students it is meant to serve. Science, in particular, is already under-resourced in many schools, and introducing new specifications under these conditions will result in a postcode lottery of educational quality. The minister needs to: Respect the clear democratic decision of ASTI members; refrain from using the public service agreement to force through measures without consensus; and restore the original timeline to allow genuine consultation and proper preparation across all schools. The minister stated a commitment to supporting students, but sustainable reform cannot be achieved without bringing teachers along. Rushing ahead risks creating deeper divisions, damaging morale, and ultimately harming educational outcomes. I appeal to Ms McEntee to act with leadership and wisdom and pause the timeline, re-engage with teachers, and deliver a reform process that will truly serve students, teachers, and the wider system. Michael McGrath, St Augustine's College, Abbeyside, Dungarvan, Co Waterford Housewife column hits nail on head Jennifer Horgan's article 'Being a homemaker is hard, even harder when it's no longer valued' is an excellent and compelling piece of journalism. As a male clinician who, over the years, has heard countless women say that their roles are unappreciated, I am acutely aware of how challenging being a homemaker is. I totally get where Ms Horgan is coming from. I believe she is correct in saying: 'Irish society knowingly exploits women. We need their duties, but just can't mention them.' I do believe that, for many women, being a homemaker is thankless in that it's never-ending. It offers no salary and is a profession in which many women sacrifice just about everything in order to provide a home and upkeep for their families. With more women working outside the home, there is an increased demand for daycare and early pre-schools — which is very exacting and demanding. Fewer women today are able to stay at home and care for their children as a result of the high cost of living. However, there are some women who are still able to remain full-time homemakers — thus providing an atmosphere for their families that is seldom seen anymore. It is my contention that raising children and being a housewife is one of the hardest jobs for any one person. I find Ms Horgan's summation to be somewhat poignant and heartbreaking yet true when she says: 'As with every type of oppression women endure, we see but we don't see. Such is our way.' In response to the same, I would like to see society recognise the valuable contributions of our homemakers as their worth is essential for the wellbeing of families and communities. Homemakers provide the foundation for stable and loving homes, which are crucial for child development and overall societal wellbeing. John O'Brien, Clonmel, Co Tipperary Are we a nation of animal lovers? It's a peculiar fact that the first known attempt to legislate against animal cruelty anywhere in the world was here in Ireland. In 1635, a law was enacted to criminalise the practice of pulling wool off sheep (as distinct from shearing them) and the equally cruel custom of attaching ploughs to animals' tails. It has been argued that the law was motivated as much by a desire to raise revenue as by concern for the unfortunate animals, but it's still a milestone. It represented a first tentative step towards humane treatment of animals. And in the 19th century, Irish MP Richard Martin of Galway founded the world's first animal protection society, as well as campaigning against the 'sports' of bull-baiting and bear-baiting. With this remarkable record, it's all the more baffling and abhorrent that animal cruelty is so widespread in Ireland today. Abandoned horses can be found weekly, dead or dying of neglect or ill-treatment, in fields or on roadsides nationwide. An RTÉ report exposed the selling of unwanted racehorses that ended up in the EU food chain, and the merciless flogging of horses in an abattoir. Livestock raised on Irish farms are sent on long, stressful sea journeys, profit trumping any objections to their sad and lonely plight. Animal shelters are full to overflowing with dogs and cats, animals that once happily dwelt in homes, only to be ejected from the company of those they adored. We applaud when efforts are made to reintroduce a long absent species of wildlife, only to read a few weeks or months later that they've been blasted out of the sky or poisoned. Illegal poaching has worsened over the past five years, with farmers living in fear of hunters who trespass to kill wildlife. The badger, a shy nocturnal mammal, can end up being snared as part of the bovine TB eradication scheme, if it's lucky enough to have avoided the baiting gangs or the loss of habitat due to building projects. Even as State wildlife rangers struggle to contain poaching, a State licence facilitates the setting of dogs on our supposedly 'protected' native hares. Hare coursing is almost unknown outside Ireland. The countries that once permitted it have long since consigned it to oblivion, with the exception of Pakistan and Iberia. And we retain the quintessential British tradition of fox hunting, which Britain has outlawed, so that our wild dogs can still be chased to exhaustion and death for fun. Despite that promising start back in 1635, I'm afraid we can no longer consider ourselves a nation of animal lovers. To reclaim our humane status, we need to enforce existing anti-cruelty laws and end the savagery of hare coursing, fox hunting, and badger snaring. We can be a light to the world; instead of a hell on Earth for the voiceless. John Fitzgerald, Callan, Co Kilkenny Cork GAA must act to arrest downward spiral in football As a lifelong Cork GAA supporter, it is worrying to see the continuing downward spiral at all levels of Gaelic football. History was created recently with defeat to Kerry at U20 level for the fourth year in a row. Never before has this happened. The minor statistics are even worse. The senior team continues to flounder in Division 2 of the National Football League with little hope of promotion to Division 1. The standard of Cork club football is appalling. If we thought the late 1970s or early 1980s at inter-county level was bad, this is a new low masked by a couple of close encounters with the arch enemy, Kerry, in the last few years — not on Saturday, May 31, though. The question must be asked what if any kind of plans are in place to bring Cork football back to the top level where it should be for a county with the most football clubs in the country. Finally, let's hope the Cork senior hurlers finally reach the holy grail this year with Liam McCarthy Cup returning after a 20-year absence. Tom Harrington, Connaught Avenue, Cork


Irish Examiner
21 hours ago
- Irish Examiner
'Accessible' Leaving Cert history exam will have left some students 'bitterly disappointed'
Students who were hoping to see Charles Stewart Parnell or the Montgomery Bus Boycott appear on this year's Leaving Cert history will be 'bitterly disappointed' with an otherwise accessible exam. The Leaving Cert 2025 exams continued on Wednesday afternoon with history. This year's higher level paper, which requires students to tackle one document-based question as well as three essay-style questions, was 'accessible', according to ASTI subject spokesman Philip Irwin. "I thought it was a good paper for students.' In particular, he liked this year's documents question, which focused on the Jarrow March of 1936. 'That was one of three case studies in the dictatorship and democracy in Europe section. The other two are the show trials in Stalin's Russia, which came up last year, and the Nuremberg rallies," Mr Irwin said. 'I would suspect that students were more looking for the Nuremberg rallies [to appear on the exam].' The sources supplied in the question were good, he added. This included a government statement issued at the time, and the other an extract from a newspaper report about the Jarrow March. 'The questions on it were also good, with one asking students to compare and contrast the documents. It was an interesting question overall, and I think that students would have found it accessible and doable. The Irish history section included some good general questions, but students may have found a question on Éamon de Valera's leadership more challenging, he added. Students were asked to discuss how effective his leadership was during the Treaty negotiations, Civil War, and during the Second World War. 'Quite a bit to deal with there, sometimes those questions are either or, so that was more challenging.' Another challenging question appeared in the US history section, which asked students to discuss how and why religion became an increasingly powerful force in American life between 1945 to 1989. Many students will have been surprised not to see questions on Charles Stewart Parnell or the Montgomery Bus Boycott appear on the higher-level paper, according to teacher and Studyclix subject spokesman Jamie Dockery. 'Those who placed all their bets on these topics, undoubtedly a sizeable number, will be bitterly disappointed," Mr Dockery said. However, there was much to be pleased with in this paper. The ordinary level paper should also have been generally well received by students and teachers, Mr Dockery added. The Jarrow March was also the focus of the documents question, he added. 'I very much welcome the higher and ordinary level exam having similar questions, particularly considering that the average senior history groups will have higher and ordinary Level students learning together in the one class.' "Many of the main personalities from Irish history found their way into the exam, he added. This including O'Connell, Yeats, Cosgrave and de Valera. 'Women will also well represented in the guise of Hanna Sheehy-Skeffington and Countess Markievicz and Maureen O'Hara, among others. "As a history teacher, my hope for any exams is that it will give the diligent and hardworking student a chance to show off all they know, and this exam certainly did that.' Read More Tough French comprehension exam challenges Leaving Cert students