Groups representing special-needs pupils, including deaf and blind students, have called on secondary teachers to reconsider a ban on exam work which may seriously affect the pupils in this year's Junior and Leaving Certificates.
ASTI members have been told not to supply information on the individual exam needs of these students to the Department of Education.
An internal memo sent to ASTI members by general secretary Mr Charlie Lennon a fortnight ago says members should withdraw from all exam work, including passing information to the Department about "students with specific learning difficulties".
It also says members should not return forms to the Department telling officials how many students in their school are exempt from elements of exams because of a disability or learning difficulty.
The Department needs this information - normally passed on by teachers and principals - so it can put in place plans for these students.
Many of the groups yesterday told The Irish Times they were worried that students who had not contacted the Department might not be included in the Department's arrangements. Many need readers and sign-language specialists to be on hand for the exams, while others need to be assigned separate rooms and computers. The Department last night said the inclusion of the students in the ASTI exam ban would cause major problems, but it was hoping to set up alternative mechanisms to reach them, possibly through a helpline for them or their parents.
Mr Desmond Kenny, chief executive of the National Council for the Blind, said he would be writing to the ASTI asking it to reconsider its ban. "I would hope they can revisit this decision; it is not in keeping with the professionalism teachers normally treat such students."
Mr Niall Keane, chief executive of the National Association of Deaf People, said the ASTI's decision would put special-needs pupils at "an added disadvantage. It is not a good reflection on the fairness or professionalism of the ASTI that this has been included as part of their exam ban. I can't understand why they would do this." He said while the numbers of deaf students who took the Leaving Cert was small, they often needed sign-language teachers during exams and would be lost without them.
An ASTI spokeswoman said special-needs pupils were "not being singled out or targeted"; the union had simply decided to pull out of all exam work.
Ms Anne Hughes of the Association for Children and Adults with Learning Difficulties, said the Department should have already received information on most special-needs students, but said there were normally late problems which needed to be solved. Meanwhile, the ASTI is expected to issue a statement this week saying it will not picket exam centres in June. Some leading members wanted to picket, but they have been persuaded to drop the plans after fierce opposition from parents.
In the Dail last night, the Minister for Education, Dr Woods, angrily rejected the ASTI position. "They do not seem to care who suffers in the process of achieving their aim, nor do they seem to care whether their claim is justified in the wider national context; nor do they seem to care if the national interest is damaged."
He added: "ASTI has cynically targeted students sitting State examinations by curtailing teaching time between now and Easter and by overtly threatening arrangements to hold examinations without ASTI teachers." The ASTI has reiterated its call to the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, to get involved in the dispute. It said this was the only way to resolve the five-month strike.