News

New secondary pupil assessments cause union to hold ballot for industrial action

Trade unions
A leading teaching union in Northern Ireland is embarking on a series of industrial action ballots in protest over new assessments for secondary school pupils.

The Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL) is taking “concrete action” over end of key stage assessment arrangements.

Northern Ireland is moving away from a system in which most moderation is carried out internally in schools.

A new approach is designed to be more robust and involves a greater degree of external checks. However, this means there are additional demands on teachers to keep pupils’ work.

A pilot was criticised as “unworkable and burdensome” but the system was rolled out last year.

Other unions, including the Irish National Teachers’ Organisation, are instructing members to boycott all aspects of the arrangements.

Education minister John O’Dowd plans to shake-up the assessments in response to feedback from teachers.

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