Few Ministers for Education have come away from the annual round of teacher conference quite so battle scarred as the present incumbent. Ruairí Quinn, however bloodied, remains unbowed and is no less determined to implement major reforms of the education system – at all levels. No one can doubt the Minister’s commitment to change, but many may question the merit of his robust approach in advancing his policy reforms. Mr Quinn is clear about what he wants to achieve, but he may well have to show more flexibility, and strike a better balance between direction and negotiation to win broad acceptance of his proposals.
The president of the Teachers' Union of Ireland (TUI) Gerard Craughwell was highly critical of Mr Quinn's presentation of his plans to reconfigure higher and further education and training, without prior consultation with those most affected. Mr Quinn has insisted that his proposals on further education have not yet been fully developed, and would be a matter for negotiation. And he disputed whether these necessarily meant, as had been suggested, that lecturers would have to take on extra work. The Minister now risks finding he is fighting too many battles on too many fronts.
For teachers generally – and the public – the most distressing aspect of their conference season was the embarrassing scenes at the Association of Secondary Teachers of Ireland (ASTI) meeting in Wexford. In a civilised society guests are not insulted by their hosts. Neither should a Minister, as guest of the union and as a representative of the people, be treated with the discourtesy that Mr Quinn was shown by a minority of ASTI members, who attempted to shout him down. Teachers are role models, who lead by example, not least in keeping order. Pupils who behaved in a classroom as these teachers did in Wexford, would risk expulsion. What sanction do those union members face for their disorderly behaviour? Certainly, the distractions caused by that controversy and the divisions that it created between union members meant less attention was given to educational issues of particular concern.
One such is the planned new Junior Cycle Certificate, which would involve teachers assessing their own pupils, and marking their educational progress on a continuous assessment basis. That could expose teachers to unfair pressure, whether from parents, anxious for their children's' academic success or, as pointed out by an ASTI delegate, from boards of management seeking higher grades. And how could State oversight ensure, given the decentralised nature of the new method of assessment and the uncertainty about educational standards, that the new system was uniformly fair? Mr Quinn has yet to convince his critics in the teaching profession, and many sceptical parents too.
