Pádraig O'Sullivan (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I wish to put questions to the Minister on a number of aspects. As he knows, for 15 years I was a schoolteacher, as was Deputy Foley from Kerry. We have a number of questions specific to the leaving certificate. In the context of where we are at with Covid-19, we fully understand this was a difficult decision for the Minister and it did not come lightly. He is moving with the public health advice as it comes. We understand the move was meant to bring greater certainty, particularly to the students sitting the leaving certificate this year. Obviously a number of questions remain outstanding.

Deputy Byrne alluded to issues with the standardisation of results. The document the Minister circulated last week essentially suggested there would be profiling of schools. Students and teachers are concerned that schools in disadvantaged areas could struggle based on the model that might be employed. I ask the Minister to clarify issues around that kind of modelling.

I seek clarification on the people who will actually sit the exams whenever that may be. We are phasing in the times when people may go for a cup of coffee, a haircut or whatever it might be. At the same time we cannot give our students an indication of when they may be able to sit an exam. The majority of phone calls I have received over the last week have been from parents whose children are particularly concerned that they would like to sit the exam as quickly as possible. I know that is the Minister's intention pending public health advice. At the same time, we need to look at alternative facilities, such as a remote online exam in front of a webcam, to provide certainty for students. We cannot let this roll on until the new year or until March of next year. People's lives are at stake. There is potential for students to lose an entire year in their academic life. I would like the Minister to address that issue.

The issue of children who are home-schooled comes up quite a bit. They do not have the same experience as other students of being in a conventional learning environment and sitting the same types of exams on a regular basis. What accommodation will be made for those students?

The late change of levels is a feature of the lives of all leaving certificate students. A teacher will always recommend a student to stay with higher level for as long as possible, right up to after the mock exams or maybe later in the year after Easter. Ultimately they make the determination to drop or change a level at the last minute. How will those students be accommodated? As I read it, they cannot or will not be accommodated. I ask the Minister to clarify that also.

On the grading of non-curricular subjects, such as Polish, Romanian and other minority languages, many students will sit those exams with little or no guidance from a teacher in the entire two-year period. How will those students be accommodated in the leaving certificate?

On the rescinding of the results for the oral examinations, when the Minister first made the declaration that students would get 100%, as an Irish teacher, I felt very uncomfortable with that. Certain people who worked very hard would have deserved that result, but other students who might not have worked quite as hard would have attained the same result. What has changed? What advice has the Minister been given in the meantime to lead him to change tack on that front?

Deputy Byrne also mentioned the lobbying of teachers and principals on results. We know the vast majority of people and parents will abide by the result that is given. I believe that if teachers are pressured or schools come under some kind of interference from external sources, some kind of regime of sanctions is needed. I am not sure guidelines are sufficient. It would be a very rare occasion that this would happen, but there needs to be a deterrent for people engaging in such practice.

The big bone of contention I have is with fifth year students going into sixth year. They need to be given clarity. They have already lost ten to 12 weeks of teaching and time with their teachers in their schools. In September, they could potentially be operating on a reduced timetable. We do not know what will happen then. I would like the Minister to clarify the plans for fifth year students going into their leaving certificate year. Will they be facing a reduced exam schedule or a more refined syllabus?

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