06-06-2025
ASTI members reject Leaving Cert reforms
ASTI members have voted to reject proposals aimed at enabling Leaving Cert reforms, and have also endorsed industrial action.
They voted by more than two thirds to reject the document, Senior Cycle Redevelopment – Implementation Support Measures.
With a turnout of 73%, 68% voted against the proposals and 32% voted in favour.
In a separate ballot, ASTI members voted by 67% to 33% in favour of industrial action, up to and including strike action, if necessary, in opposition to the accelerated implementation of the reforms.
Turnout in that vote was slightly lower at 70%.
The ASTI said that the results point to "a lack of confidence in the accelerated Senior Cycle Redevelopment Programme as it is currently constituted".
Members had, the ASTI said in a statement, delivered "a resounding rejection of the package of implementation support measures on offer from the Department of Education".
General Secretary Kieran Christie said that "second-level teachers have real and significant concerns" about the implementation of the proposals.
Research the union conducted "shows that a key concern is the lack of resources and capacity in schools", he added.
"Furthermore, the supports on offer do little to provide a Senior Cycle experience for all students that addresses the core inequalities that are in place in the second-level system.
"The ASTI research also finds that the majority of second-level teachers are concerned about developments in AI, authentication of Additional Assessment Components, and insufficient teacher training in some subject areas. The support package available from the Department fails to sufficiently address these concerns."
The ASTI said that it "will continue to be available to engage with the Minister for Education and Youth and her Department in relation to how these and other significant concerns can be addressed".
