Teachers promise to make up for lost time

Teachers and principals have said teaching time lost during the teachers' dispute will be made up before the Leaving Cert begins…

Teachers and principals have said teaching time lost during the teachers' dispute will be made up before the Leaving Cert begins on June 6th.

The majority of exam students have lost 10 days of teaching time or about 60 classroom hours since the dispute started in mid-November.

The action by the Association of Secondary Teachers, Ireland (ASTI) is suspended for a week, and if peace talks go well it could be suspended for the remainder of the school year.

A statement from parents at nine Dublin secondary schools said that "all teaching hours must be fully made up".

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Many schools have been briefing parents about plans to make up time. Some are holding classes outside normal hours, while in others teachers are drawing up special revision notes to help students.

Some schools have already been giving extra classes. Mr Gilbert McCarthy, principal of Presentation College, Athenry, Co Galway, said his school had held classes at lunchtime during the past few months.

The school was also considering cancelling PE and religion classes and using the time for exam subjects.

Mr Shay Bannon, principal of Ardscoil na mBraithre in Clonmel, Co Tipperary, said parents should remember that the Leaving Cert was prepared over two years, and the loss of the 10 days did not necessarily mean their child would lose out.

"Students who are motivated will have their own revision plans, and the weaker students will be given help by their teachers," he said.

Mr Michael Madigan, principal of Oatlands College in Stillorgan, Co Dublin, said maths and English were traditionally the longest courses, and teachers in those areas would have to decide whether their students needed extra classes.

Mr David Martin, a member of the ASTI's central executive committee, said teachers would do everything to ensure pupils do not lose out. "Teachers are competitive animals by nature and want to prepare their students as thoroughly as possible for the exams," he said.

But Ms Mary McGlynn, head of the national association of principals and deputy principals, said it was not constructive for parents to demand extra classes from all schools.

"It should be left to the professional judgment of teachers," she said. "They are the best judges of whether pupils need extra tuition or not."

What angers some students and their parents is that not everybody has lost the same amount of time. Some students have not lost any.

Students attending the 200 schools where the Teachers' Union of Ireland is solely represented have not lost a day since the ASTI dispute began.