Teachers and students deserve quality Leaving Cert – Kenny
Speaking during Leaders’ Questions today, Labour’s education spokesperson Eoghan Kenny TD called on Government to heed the warnings of the over 40,000 teachers across the country who protested last year regarding rushed Leaving Cert reform.
Deputy Kenny accused the Government of presiding over a Senior Cycle Reform that favours children of more affluent families, as the facilities of many local vocational schools remain substandard compared with private schools.
Deputy Kenny said:
“We need to reform the Leaving Cert but we need to get it right to give every child the best start in life.
“However, Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil seem determined to plough on with rushed, poorly thought out and inadequately resourced reform which will have a material impact on the education of our students.
“As a teacher, I know this only too well. Teachers are being asked to deliver new syllabi with as little as one day of training. It’s unfair on the teachers, and it’s unfair on the students.
“The rushed nature of this reform means that the ink is barely dry on the syllabus before the teachers are expected to roll it out in the classroom. It’s not going to work.
“What’s more, we are all too aware of the discrepancy in terms of the quality of facilities for students attending local vocational schools, versus those in private education. It will come as no surprise that private schools are well equipped with technology, with suites of laboratories, and, in some cases, with lab technicians to advise on the use of the lab itself.
“Meanwhile, pupils attending local voluntary schools are met with 100 year old infrastructure, two very basic science labs and sporadic wifi connection. It’s fundamentally unfair.
“I don’t think this Government get it. Change is good, change is needed, but unless the investment for students is there, it is doomed to fail.”