Charlie McConalogue (Donegal North East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The important message from this debate is the reassurance that students can hopefully take from the answer the Minister has given. She states that she has engaged with the State Examinations Commission and that it understands the distress the students felt and the difficulty many students experienced as a result of the questions with which they were confronted on the day. It is hoped it will be a reassurance to them that their papers will be marked accordingly . May it also allay some of their nerves. They will always naturally feel some but it is particularly the case in this instance given the difficulty of the paper concerned. That is important. We all know the leaving certificate is an exceptionally stressful examination and a difficult experience for students. It is important that the papers set do not make that any more difficult. It is important that lessons are learned from this paper. It is a daunting enough experience without students having to face into unpredictable examination papers. The reassurance that lessons will be learned from this paper for next year is very important as well.

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