On Saturday, January 6th, a group of 30 parents representing the national executives of CSPA, CBS and COMPASS met in St Patrick's in Drumcondra. The meeting was called to create a forum for parents to discuss the ASTI industrial action. At the same time we were awaiting the outcome of the latest ASTI meeting, our hope being that our meeting would be academic. That was not the case.
To say we were deeply disappointed doesn't really express how we felt. In my case I got that hollow, sinking sensation you get when you feel totally disheartened. How could the teachers refuse to go back into talks? They are adults. Don't they know what they are doing to our children?
Their "nuclear option" of threatening the exams is putting a tremendous pressure on our students. We've all seen the results of a nuclear explosion - devastating and irreparable.
It does, however, have the advantage of less personal fallout for the teachers while ensuring the greatest amount of damage is done to the opposition - if the opposition is the students, that is.
Why is exam supervision and correction, work that is separate to their work contract, being used to improve their normal work contract? For professionals proclaiming to have the welfare and education of our children at heart, how can they do this? How can they even consider, as professionals, this direct attack on our children's futures?
As parents we have other issues to consider. We have concerns about the younger student who has never quite managed to settle into school and about the number of students who are considering opting out of education if this dispute continues.
Parents cannot resolve this dispute. The meeting looked at ways we could support our students. In the event of further lost days we favoured the promotion of study groups, an approach that has already worked in some areas. A small committee was established to draw up plans for parents to put this idea into action.
It was also decided to request that Saturdays be made available as school days to all students in an effort to offset the days lost through industrial action.
As parents, we have had no input into the present system. We have an Education Act that does not give us any statutory rights. We run our organisations on a voluntary basis and attend meetings in our own time, at our own expense. We are parents with an interest in education, involved on a part-time basis. This raises serious questions around the issue of partnership.
While we are happy to see teachers trying to improve the standard of teaching in Ireland, we cannot endorse any action that does not support our children. We recognise that changes need to be made and that those changes include pay.
We would urge both sides to see this as an opportunity to restructure the system and bring our second-level education into the 21st century. In the interests of both teachers and students we want the recent recommendations on the funding of second-level schools implemented. It is essential our schools are funded on an equitable and transparent basis.
We would like to see a new attitude of professionalism being adopted by both the Minister and the teachers. While Whole School Evaluation looks at the school as a unit, we are concerned about the accountability of individual teachers. We do not feel exam results are a reflection of a teacher's ability, as those results can be the outcome of other factors.
The erosion of the school year is of great concern to parents. The aim of everyone in education should be the promotion of the 167 days as teaching days. Parent-teacher meetings, training and any other areas necessitating teacher participation should be done outside teaching hours.
We would like to see the issue of teachers on part-time hours being addressed to the benefit of the teachers, with perhaps a consideration of pool-based teachers rather then school-based teachers. This would also improve the availability of some subjects.
It is in the best interest of the education system that when this is resolved we are left with a teaching profession we can value and one that knows it is valued. We want our students to retain a high level of respect for their teachers.
We are demanding an end to the negative attitudes adopted by both sides. We implore both sides to act in a more mature fashion. We would therefore ask both the Minister and ASTI to show that they have the best interests of the students at heart and enter into negotiations without any preconditions.
In conclusion, we would again say that our role is to support the education and welfare of our children. To that end we would like to send the Minister and ASTI a short, sharp message. Stop interfering with our children's futures and stop using them as pawns to achieve what you want. Fix this dispute and fix it now. Put our children first.
Barbara Johnston is PRO for the Congress of Catholic Secondary School Parent Associations