Dáil debates

Thursday, 14 January 2021

Covid-19 (Education): Statements

 

2:50 pm

Photo of Cathal CroweCathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle. I will be taking four minutes of that speaking time.

Every sinew of effort in our country at the moment is being ploughed into the physical health of the nation. As a result of engaging with young people in my constituency at the weekend and last week, I have become extremely concerned about their mental health. I have been talking to them on Facebook and Instagram and via email. They are extremely concerned about the uncertainty that lies ahead for them in the context of the State examinations. Like the Minister, I am a teacher. I know that she understands the stress these students are experiencing. If the election had gone differently for both of us last year, I would be in a classroom and she would be preparing yet another class for the leaving certificate. We need to put an end to the uncertainty and to tell the State examination classes of 2021, in the quickest possible time, what lies ahead for them this summer. My suggestion to the Minister - I have spoken to her about it - is that there should be a blended model. Predicted grades would be a good option to offer people along with the more traditional leaving certificate, which proved possible to organise last autumn. The two options need to coexist and students must be given a choice. Some certainty needs to be brought to all of this.

Many junior certificate students and their parents have also been in contact with me. All of the national discourse is about the leaving certificate but junior certificate students also need certainty and to be unburdened of the immense stress they are experiencing at this time. There is a cohort of students in this country, it is not sizeable, but many will apply to the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service in order to try to gain third level places in England and they too need certainty.

I welcome the announcement that things will open next week in respect of special education. We also need to see services like child and adolescent mental health services, CAMHS, move online. If our teachers can do it, so can others. I joined in a lesson this morning in my local school in Parteen. It was a fabulous lesson delivered via Zoom. If that school and others throughout the country can do this, so can CAMHS and the other early intervention services that support young people. I ask for the Minister’s views on this matter and on a blended model for leaving certificate. I would also like to hear how she anticipates engaging those other youth services in order to ensure that special education will be a success in the coming weeks.

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