LAST UPDATE | 19 Nov 2024

THOUSANDS OF TEACHERS have taken part in a protest outside schools this lunchtime to seek a delay in implementing the Senior Cycle redevelopment.

In 2022, Education Minister Norma Foley requested that the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment prepare a schedule of senior cycle subjects to be reviewed and redeveloped.

It was then announced in September of this year that two new subjects are being added to the Leaving Cert – Drama Film and Theatre Studies, and Climate Action and Sustainable Development.

These new subjects will be introduced into schools next year, for fifth year students starting the 2025/2026 school year. The subjects will initially be offered to 100 schools.

Members of the Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland (ASTI) and the Teachers’ Union of Ireland (TUI) are taking part in today’s protest.

The organisations said they are not calling for the postponement of these new pilot subjects, adding that this is “being supported with additional resources and allocation for those schools involved.

Rather, the unions are protesting a decision to “accelerate” Senior Cycle redevelopment plans. The ASTI said teachers are “gravely concerned that aspects of the plans pose a threat to education standards, fairness and quality”.

These changes will see new and revised subject specifications to incorporate non-exam based assessments which will be worth at least 40% of the available marks and will be externally assessed by the State Examinations Commission.

ASTI also say that a large proportion of the course is open to cheating and that the resources needed to implement the course are not present in every school, giving an unequal opportunity for students and staff. 

Teachers from ASTI and the second-level branch of TUI at St Kevin’s College in Ballygall, Co Dublin, teachers told The Journal today that example material and exams have yet to be shared with them. 

Teachers from St Kevin's College in Dublin with Sinn Féin's Dessie Ellis and People Before Profit's Conor Reddy. Muiris O'Cearbhaill / The Journal Muiris O'Cearbhaill / The Journal / The Journal

ASTI shop steward Martin Monks said: “We work in a school where at the moment we have buckets and trays collecting water coming out of our roof because it is in desperate need of repair. 

“The minister expects up to introduce a totally new curriculum while she is failing to keep our roof over our heads.”

Monks said that the unions were in no way opposed to reforming the leaving certificate or the senior cycle but that teachers need better training and more time before the course. 

“We don’t even have as much as a sample paper or a sample exam to actually implement these things,” he said. 

People Before Profit Dublin North-West candidate Conor Reddy and leader Richard Boyd Barrett as well as Sinn Féin TD Dessie Ellis were in attendance. 

Reddy said that this issue reflects the treatment teachers have been facing in recent years by the outgoing government. 

“One of the big things that needs to be solved on the other side of this election is a fair deal for teachers,” he said. 

Reddy added: “St Kevin’s is a great school, a great community but they have a leaky roof and are struggling for resources. They have to put out the begging bowl, unfortunately, for voluntary contributions every year.

“For us (People Before Profit), we’d like to see much more State-funding […] so they’re not having to go above and beyond to give a decent education for people.”

Sign opposing the accelerated rollout outside St Kevin's College in Dublin today. Muiris O'Cearbhaill / The Journal Muiris O'Cearbhaill / The Journal / The Journal

While the ASTI said it is not “opposed to the redevelopment” it has called for “sufficient resources to be provided to ensure a smooth and effective roll-out”.

It added that any changes must not be “rushed through” and be of “educational benefit to students and based on the professional views of practitioners tasked with delivery”.

Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, ASTI President Donal Cremin said teachers want to “slow down the process” because the Department of Education “doesn’t have the resources at the moment to run things correctly and properly”.

“A rushed system can often be a failed system, and that’s what we’re afraid of, because it is a high stakes exam,” said Cremin.

Some €30 million of additional funding was provided in the budget for the continuation of curricular development and reforms and related teacher education.

But Cremin said this isn’t enough for the reforms and added that Ireland is the “lowest of the OECD countries” for investment in education.

“With the present economic climate, and the plenty of money that they have, they need to invest in second level education, they need to invest in our students for the future,” said Cremin.

He added that the reforms to the Senior Cycle are “too rushed” and “need to be pushed out by at least a year”.

Seven subjects are set to be introduced: Ancient Greek; Arabic; Business; Biology; Chemistry; Latin; and Physics. The second set of revised subjects will be introduced at the beginning of the 2026-27 school and includes English and Geography.

Three further tranches of subjects are then scheduled to undergo revision on an annual basis and the revised curriculum will come into schools in 2027, 2028, and 2029 respectively.

“It’s going to pressurize the system and it’s going to create major problems for students,” said Cremin. “Things were bad enough for the last number of years, but for the future, I think, slow down and move out by just one year.”

Includes reporting by Muiris Ó Cearbhaill at St Kevin’s College, Dublin.