Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Solidarity) | Oireachtas source

I want to put on the record my serious concern about the impact of the leaving certificate crisis on the mental health of the nation's 17- and 18-year-olds. The leaving cert is stressful in normal times, which is one of the reasons I am in favour of the abolition of the exam. We are told that 50% of teens normally feel nervous when they think about exams and 25% feel physically unwell. However, with Covid, things move into a higher gear altogether. Some students have experienced Covid directly. Students have had family members with the disease. Students have relatives who have died. Students live with family members who have underlying conditions and can be terrified of bringing the disease home. Students have lost 15 weeks of classroom teaching time already. There are some students out there who cannot sleep. There are others who are not eating properly, as well as some who are crying, who cannot get out of bed and who have gone on medication to get them through the exams. Not all students show these symptoms, perhaps not a majority, but all are feeling the strain.

No doubt the Minister of State will tell me the Government will make a decision next Tuesday and that this should relieve much of the stress. However, I say the Government's decision must relieve the stress and not add to it. I am fearful that the Government is close to making a decision which does add to the stress. A late summer leaving cert means that exam stress goes on for an extra four to six weeks and that the students who need to work for the summer to make money to go to college cannot do so. A hybrid leaving cert risks being the worst of both worlds. Students can end up with the stress of a written exam and the stress of handing in papers that go towards calculated grades. That creates two hurdles and potentially twice as much pressure. The best solution by far is to cancel the exams, give every student a cert and invest in third level to the point where open access can be provided next year.

Will the Government support the commissioning of a National Educational Psychological Service survey to assess the mental health of the nation's 61,000 leaving certificate students?

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