LEAVING CERTS LEFT IN DARK FOR A WEEK
Thousands of students could have had misery of uncertainty ended sooner
THE Government made the decision to cancel the Leaving Cert one week before it told thousands of anxious students left in limbo.
Education Minister Joe McHugh said teachers had to be consulted before the decision was announced and this was the reason for the delay.
The 61,000 pupils who faced months of uncertainty could have known at the beginning of May that they would not be sitting their postponed exams from July 29.
According to the Minister for Education, Joe McHugh, this was because teachers had not been consulted about the new grading system.
‘I wasn’t going to announce the cancellation of the Leaving Cert without having a fully comprehensive conversation with the key stakeholders, which included student voices, parent representatives, unions and management bodies,’ he said.
‘The day the unions and management were presented with what the Leaving Cert would look like was a week in advance of the decision.’
Minister McHugh said that announcing the cancellation of the State exams without an alternative plan would have been a ‘dereliction of duty’.
‘It was my duty to ensure that certainty was provided to the students when we announced the cancellation of the Leaving Cert.
‘I stand over that time [frame] because I didn’t want a whole cohort of teachers being bounced into a decision without that deliberation.’
His comments came as the country’s second-largest teaching union has said its members will now cooperate with the new grading system for the Leaving Certificate.
The change comes after the Association of Secondary Teachers, Ireland said on Thursday that its teachers should not engage with the new system until they are offered stronger legal protections by the State.
In a statement on Friday, the union said it has advised its members to engage with the calculated grades after securing full indemnity for members.
‘Crucially, the Department of Education and Skills has given an undertaking that in all cases where the indemnity applies, the Chief State Solicitor’s Office will take over the running of the litigation.
‘This strengthening of the indemnity will ensure that a teacher will not have to employ her/his own legal team to defend herself/himself and run the risk of incurring large irrecoverable costs and expenses.’
The ASTI said that teachers will now proceed with the process and ‘will apply the high professional standards it requires’.
Speaking to members of the press, the Education Minister confirmed that union demands for clarity over the proposed indemnity scheme for teachers have been met.
As a result, the calculated assessment model for the Leaving Certificate can now proceed.
The minister said the confusion around the Leaving Cert had been brought to a conclusion within a matter of weeks and that it was now ‘all systems go’.
However, he could not rule out further roadblocks in the weeks to come.
‘It’s a system that’s not perfect because we had to do it in such a short space of time, but I’m confident with the level of integration and communication we’ve set up.
‘Yes, there may be more clarification needed in the days and weeks ahead, but that will be provided.’
Mr McHugh said that both the ASTI and the Teachers’ Union of Ireland had overnight received the assurances they needed to cooperate with the Government’s scheme.
‘I’m happy now to say that everybody is in agreement in terms of the level of security around the indemnity for teachers, and also for schools and boards of management,’ he said.
Following its decision to cancel its boycott, a spokesperson for the ASTI said that it has now instructed its 17,000 members to proceed with their work without fear of any negative financial consequences.
‘Crucially, the Department of Education and Skills has given an undertaking that in all cases where the indemnity applies, the Chief State Solicitor’s Office will take over the running of
He could not rule out roadblocks ‘It’s a system that is not perfect’
the litigation,’ the union said in a statement. ‘This strengthening of the indemnity will ensure that a teacher will not have to employ her/ his own legal team to defend herself/ himself and run the risk of incurring large irrecoverable costs and expenses.’
Separately, the TUI also welcomed the government’s clarity on the indemnity process.
‘For the avoidance of any doubt, the Union sought and secured confirmation from the Department of our clear understanding of the comprehensive nature of the indemnity.
‘In this context, the union sought and has received confirmation that the Chief State Solicitor’s Office will act for the teacher in every instance in which the indemnity applies – that is, in every instance where the teacher has discharged her/ his obligations in relation to estimated marks in a bona fide manner.
‘This means that a teacher will not have to engage his/her own personal legal advisors and incur the associated, and possibly substantial, costs,’ the TUI’s statement added.