The National Parents' Council has welcomed offers by parents around the country to supervise Leaving and Junior Certificate exams if members of the ASTI refuse to do so. The Secondary School Managers' Association has promised to do everything possible to ensure that exams will go ahead with the minimum disruption. George O'Callaghan, spokesman for the Managers' Association, said that he could understand parents' concern over the matter, but said that supervising exams was a very complex operation.
With oral exams just weeks away and the Leaving and Junior Certs fast approaching, the ASTI position has hardened. If a Labour Court recommendation on the teachers' 30% pay claim is not reached, then renewed strike action and a ban on the supervision of exams is a very real threat. But the National Parents Council says they'll do whatever it takes to stop that happening. The Secondary Schools Managers Association said supervising exams was a complex security task which involved a lot of paperwork and required training.
The ASTI is expected to return to the Labour Court next week for a fresh round of talks. March 3rd is the deadline issued by the teachers to the court, and they are issuing an ultimatum to either come up with an acceptable recommendation or else the supervision of all exams in May and June will be banned. All sides are hopeful that it won't come to that.
