Junior Cert exams cannot be held this year – Teachers Union of Ireland
DUBLIN: The Teachers’ Union of Ireland (TUI) has stated that the Junior Certificate Examinations cannot be carried out this year. TUI President Martin Marjoram said the union had come to the conclusion that the Junior Cert could not be conducted, but he did not go into the details of the Leaving Cert discussions. Meanwhile, the union urged the government to take a quick decision on the Junior Cert.
“We have come to a decision we don’t like coming to but on balance the Junior Certificate examination cannot this year,” he said. He added that the union had taken this decision with regret.
The initial plan was to have the Junior Cert and Leaving Cert at the same time. But it is not possible, as extra space would be needed to accommodate this year’s Leaving Cert students.
Tánaiste Leo Varadkar also said yesterday that both sets of exams will not run at the same time. “So, there’s no decision on that yet. But we do know that we can’t hold the Junior Cert and Leaving Cert at the same time because we will need the space, and more space than we usually use for the Leaving Cert this year,” Tánaiste said.
“This decision would also prevent excessive workload and pressure for teachers and school management who are currently trying to ensure that Leaving Certificate students complete their SEC second components of assessments – for example, orals, project work, coursework – while also engaging in emergency remote teaching and learning for all other student cohorts,” the TUI said.
Meanwhile, the union president said that a system of alternative assessment of Junior Cert students is welcome. “It’ll allow those students to move on to pick Leaving Cert subjects and move onto the next stage,” Mr. Marjoram said.
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