Mr. Paul Rolston:

This will not be the first time we have spoken about these issues and our opening statement centred on exactly this subject. We have been speaking about this to death. It is very frustrating for this to be ongoing. Much as we value this meeting, as I said, I hope it will act as a springboard to some real action being taken. In fairness, we are seeing action in some areas, for example, the whole school anti-bullying report which is due to be published in December. I refer to these kinds of scenarios, where there is implementation across the whole school community and initiatives are embedded and create a culture in schools which educates children, staff, parents and everyone in the community to look after our children and enables them to be able to look after us.

I have several points to make regarding the examination system. I already referred to the report from 2016 which stated the leaving certificate is not fit for purpose. This finding is six or seven years old now - my maths may not great but it is too long ago. It is a whole secondary school lifespan in which nothing has happened on this issue. Things are being addressed and four new subjects will be coming into the leaving certificate curriculum in two years, but, by and large, learning about geography, mathematics or English does little to help people live their lives in today's world. As beautiful as Shakespeare's prose is, it is not going to support people when they face bullying or an examination where the stress overwhelms them and they cannot even remember Shakespeare's name, let alone what they have to write in the paper.

When we speak about children in this context, the purpose of education is to educate our children for their future lives and careers. The vast majority of people working in business these days will learn as they go along. They will learn in third level education and as they develop. Fundamentally, they must have confidence built within themselves. They must learn that the core aspect of learning is to understand one's own potential and ability. We must adjust our education system to create these scenarios and bring in subjects that are only now just touched on. The changes in SPHE should be broadened out massively so that our children know how to understand themselves and interact and respect each other. These are critical aspects, yet they get a couple of token slots in a week or a year, while we hammer down on this results-based leaving certificate examination when everything people do in their lives depends on two weeks, effectively, at the end of sixth year. It is total and utter insanity.

Part of the problem was emphasised during Covid-19. The pandemic focused many of our minds on many different things. When we first suggested there was a possible alternative method of assessment, which we and many others in the education system had spoken about for many years pre-Covid as well, the resistance was unbelievable. The default position was that we would still have a seated exam, regardless of the whole country being shut down and people being unable to go outside their doors. This was insanity. From this perspective, where could we go?

What did happen during Covid was that there was a push, and it primarily came from the parents and the students together, to say that alternative methods of assessment had to be found. They were found and they were found to work, by and large. The vast majority of people were pretty okay and happy with the results. We were never going to have perfection, but we do not have it now. It is a long way away. Other methods of assessment are definitely available and have been demonstrated around Europe and the rest of the world. We have to adjust to these scenarios. We must primarily teach our children to be able to learn for themselves. That must be the key focus of our education, not the six or eight subjects pupils must choose to score as many points or as close to 100% as they can in six topics during the course of the leaving certificate examinations.

They are aspects from the point of view of mental health. We need to look after their mental health to allow them to learn.