Pauline Tully (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Minister did not answer the question about the SEC. I thought that one of the reasons the exams did not proceed in July and August was that the SEC would not stand over them. It has been a tough year for the leaving certificate class of 2020. Those students have been out of school since March and did not get to sit their exams. When they got their results, there was a mixed reaction, and most felt dismay when they received their teacher-allocated grades. Many were downgraded in up to three subjects and the points for many courses went up. It has been a very tough year for those students and we need to ensure that they are not disadvantaged in any way as they go through the years because they were the 2020 leaving certificate students. We need to learn from the mistakes of this year for our current sixth year students to ensure they get the fairest possible system to sit their leaving certificate exams.

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