HPAT and Teacher Promotion

There are a couple of things on my mind today and that can be potentially dangerous. Firstly is the Irish Independent’s story today that teachers will be elevated to more “higher-ranking” positions based on merit rather than seniority from September in a new “shake up” of teacher promotion. The second is the whole HPAT thing – it’s really getting on my wick!

Wow, you might say that is a lot to think about when you are on your summer holidays Humphrey. And it is, but there is no better time to think about the would-be flaws in our education system.On the whole teacher promotion thing, have teachers really been promoted solely on seniority up until now? Didn’t their merit always count for something? In my experience, merit was always a factor and it was unlikely that schools purely went on seniority – but please correct me if I’m wrong. In my school meritocracy rules supreme for most roles. If schools have been promoted based solely on seniority then shame on you! But I welcome this “shake up” although I think it is a bit ironic that they are introducing a new means of filling A and B posts when there is a moratorium of such positions being filled! But I think teachers who work hard, have particular skills and “do a little extra” should be rewarded.

Now on to HPAT, the test which aims to examine the logical, problem solving and interpersonal skills of medical school candidates. The test itself I have no particular qualms about, despite its obvious flaws.. As a guidance counsellor I welcome wholeheartedly a fairer and more open pathway to medicine. Last year more pupils from lower socio-economic groups got places in medicine than ever before. Also the number of boys getting places went from 42% to 48%. These are very welcome developments. No longer do pupils attending grind schools have an advantage over those in a local community school. Pupils who perform better in the test are more likely of being good doctors, it’s as simple as that. The principle that we need pupils who are not only gifted but have good social and interpersonal skills is sound. What really is getting up my wick though is the media. Last year the Irish Independent (sorry nothing against you personally) ran a story about Sarah Petch, a pupil in Kinsale, who failed to get a place in medicine despite the fact she obtained the maximum 600 points in her Leaving Cert. Oh how the paper rallied around her calling the system unfair, how she was used as a guinea pig for this “stupid” test. There was no mention of the fact that she obtained a below average score in HPAT, clearly indicating that she was not (at the time) a suitable candidate for medicine. Come on lads, we would we can’t go back to a situation where we only select the best pupils based on their ability to perform in examinations. Sure, the test needs to be honed and tweaked and the testers need to realise that you can prepare for psychometric tests effectively, if you have the money. (Sarah, having attending numerous preparatory courses, including one in Australia, scored in top 3% of HPAT applicants this year - click here for more). Additional processes could well be added to make it fairer still. Maybe there should also be an interview process too and maybe the universities need more contact with the applicants beforehand. Maybe there should be a pre-med year and pupils only get into medicine proper having successfully completed that year. Or should doctors be trained solely by postgraduate courses? There are plenty of options. What HPAT might do is reduce the numbers of students dropping medicine in university as the candidates are deemed more suitable to the profession.

But I am sure that come August 18th, the papers will have stories of pupils who obtain 600 points but will not be progressing to a course in medicine. Well maybe these people who are great exam candidates simply won’t make good doctors? Did you ever think about that! Maybe they simply don’t have the personal skills necessary to deal with the pressure cooker environment of modern medicine. We complained too long that the candidates making medicine were often too bright and lacked the necessary personal skills to be effective medical practitioners. Now we have a somewhat fair way of assessing candidates and we need to promote it and recognise it for what it aims to do. Yes, it means the brightest pupils may not get into medicine but maybe they should just do law!