Will the Class of 2025 be the last traditional Leaving Cert year – or will reforms be voted down?

Irish Independent

2 days ago

Members of the Teachers' Union of Ireland (TUI) have already voted to accept proposed Leaving Certificate reforms ahead of industrial action.
However, the Association of Secondary Teachers in Ireland (ASTI) will announce its ballot of members on Friday. The union has not recommended a decision to its members.
Originally both unions had been firmly against reforms to be rolled out in September. Educators raised concerns regarding a lack of preparation and a lack of resources.
Tying reform to work and pay conditions is also really not right
Lesley Byrne, principal of Clogher Road Community College in Crumlin, south Dublin, told the Irish Independent: 'Senior cycle reform is absolutely welcome and is long overdue. But the crux of the issue is that teachers feel, or have a sense, that the reform is being done to them instead of with them or by them.
'It really shouldn't be a situation where every time we have to have some reform, it ends up in unions having to balance their members. And tying reform to work and pay conditions is also really not right.'
Teachers are at risk of losing up to 5pc of their salary if the move to put reforms in place isn't accepted, which makes it likely the motion will pass.
In April, teachers also raised an alarm that reform was taking place without proper safeguards around artificial intelligence, which could potentially be used to gain an upper hand in written assessments.
'There's really genuine questions to be asked about the disparity in resources that different schools have access to,' Ms Byrne said.
'Some schools have good lab equipment and wifi, others don't. It might be assumed that every school has good wifi. That's not always the case. Things like that absolutely have to be addressed.
'The central issue is the CAO. It still has such a hold over the Leaving Cert system. Therefore teachers and school staff are so conscious that any minor change or any further disadvantage of some students could have a huge impact in terms of the CAO and what points students get – which obviously could have a bigger knock-on impact.
'If we really want to reform the senior cycle, none of that, I believe, can be done without a proper reform of the CAO system as it stands.'
In April, teaching delegates passed emergency motions at their annual congress calling for their unions to move on industrial action if talks with the department failed to 'deliver an acceptable outcome".
But educational sources believe it's inevitable the ASTI will also vote for changes, given the tie-in with wages at a time when house prices are rising and the cost of living is increasing.
Resources remain a problem in some schools
Concerns have been raised on the additional resourcing necessary to ensure no students are at a disadvantage due to reforms, particularly those in Deis schools.
Paul Crone, director of the National Association of Principals and Deputy Principals (NAPD), said while he felt reform is the 'correct direction of travel, resources remain a problem in some schools'.
'The department has committed to doing a survey to see how many schools this applies to but there's no doubt the science labs are a critical issue,' Mr Crone added.
'There's been a pause to the Summer Works Scheme in the last few years, where updates to science labs and facilities were made. Upgrades are now critical for reform to take place.
'The Additional Assessment Component (AAC) is essential to all of this. That's to help students to spread the assessment load and for the Leaving Cert to be less of a burden on them.'
Under the reform plans, the AAC would see students assessed on skills and knowledge in addition to traditional written exams, worth a minimum of 40pc of the overall grade. The AAC is expected to come in the form of practical experiments, research projects, performance assessments or the creation of projects.
The class of 2026 sits on the precipice of potential historic changes to the Leaving Cert, often viewed as the most important exam of a student's life. But observers say investigation from decision-makers is also vital to establish if reforms will actually go far enough to increase equity in the Leaving Cert and higher education system.
Mr Crone said reform would really be 'worthless unless we tackle how students gain entry into Higher Education via the CAO'.
'We need to take back control in post-primary education,' he added. 'Second-level education needs to be exactly that and not a filter for higher education.'
The Irish Independent has asked the Department of Education for a response.