The president of the Association of Secondary Teachers, Ireland, Mr John Hurley, has warned that teachers were not convinced that another change in direction at junior level was necessary so soon after the introduction of the Junior Certificate.
Speaking in Cork last evening at the publication of the second volume of the ASTI journal on issues in education, Mr Hurley said there had been a revolution over the past three years in senior-cycle education. This had followed on from the new Junior Certificate programme between 1989 and 1992. "It is therefore vital that this recent reform at junior cycle level and the many excellences in the various syllabi are allowed to bed in over a period of time. "Of course, essential change has to be facilitated, but the system, currently, could not cope with another revolution in junior-cycle education and most teachers remain to be convinced that such a revolution is necessary so soon after the introduction of the Junior Certificate.
" Change fatigue and change overload is a real problem in schools and perhaps what is needed most of all now is a period of consolidation and a period of increased in-career development for teachers to enable the best aspects of the Junior Certificate to be implemented," he added.
At the publication of the new volume, the president of University College, Cork, Prof Michael Mortell, said the old Intermediate Certificate and Group Certificate examinations were abolished in the early 1990s and replaced by a unified system of national assessment and certification - the Junior Certificate.
"The subject syllabi were revised to update their content and to ensure that our young people were being provided with an education appropriate to the needs of the 21st century. . .
"All these changes have posed a major challenge for teachers. It is clear from the articles in Issues in Education Vol 11 that the challenge of change has been, and continues to be, successfully met by teachers on many fronts."