The ASTI president, Ms Susie Hall, has backed the cautious approach of the Minister for Education on exam reform.
Last night she endorsed the approach of the Minister, Ms Hanafin, who has said she does not favour change for change's sake.
Ms Hall said: "We must be careful to hold on to the best things that the Senior Cycle and Leaving Cert programmes offer."
The Leaving Cert, she said, was perceived to be "fair and impartial by educational institutions and employers alike.
"It also has enormous international status. Any proposed reform must take this into account. In addition, in order to be effective any educational reform must be funded properly."
She was responding to yesterday's Irish Times interview in which the Minister signalled her unease with a radical shake-up of the exam.
But Labour has accused the Minister of adopting a conservative approach towards exam reform.
Its education spokeswoman, Ms Jan O'Sullivan TD, expressed disappointment that Ms Hanafin had "rowed back to a degree" on progressive statements that had been made by her predecessor about the need to look at more continuous assessment in the Leaving Certificate.
Ms O'Sullivan said the Leaving Cert must be about more than a three- to six-hour assessment in each subject. Continuous assessment through project work, for example, would give students scope to express themselves in different ways academically and would allow for different forms of intelligence to be tested.
The TUI education and research officer, Mr John MacGabhann, said the Minister appeared to have been guided largely by spending considerations.
"Her rather slighting reference to a 'Rolls-Royce' option opted for by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment suggests that she is prepared only for the expenditure necessary to buy a banger. This would be in nobody's interest," he said. .
The current exclusive reliance on a terminal examination might, he said, suit students who had a strong ability to "recall", but it certainly did not benefit those suited to more active learning methodologies or those who, through no fault of their own, fell ill or suffered a personal trauma immediately before or during the examination period.
"We would agree with the Minister that the value of Transition Year should be retained in any new Leaving Certificate cycle," he said.
In its response, the Union of Secondary Students in Ireland cited a recent poll on Skoool.ie which recorded very high levels of stress among Leaving Cert students.
