Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Last night I received an email from a leaving certificate student who feels completely forgotten about by the Department of Education as it is not recognising the true impact of Covid-19 on those who will sit the leaving certificate next June. I raised this specific issue with the Minister for Education in the Chamber on 13 May. The email states: "We missed a huge chunk of our in school learning due to the lockdown when we were in 5th year including the lack of group work and peer learning." Importantly, it goes on to state: "I think we are now incredibly behind and a lot of us are stressed and getting ourselves into a mess with the thought of the leaving cert." These students are looking for the option of accredited grades, just like last year's leaving certificate class. I am asking the Taoiseach to make that option available to them.

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