Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I acknowledge that the provision of an opportunity, in the midst of a pandemic, for students to avail of the accredited grades process and written exams was a remarkable achievement for the education sector. I acknowledge school leadership and school communities who, in a very difficult and challenging time, really pulled together to ensure that the classes of 2021 and 2020 would have an opportunity to find a pathway forward to sit a final State exam.

One of the most interesting learnings from the process was the fact that there was such a high uptake for both options. There was a high uptake for the written exams, on which an element of doubt was cast originally. It was very interesting to see that students opted to maximise their potential. There are learnings from that but, equally, also from all we have known and experienced of senior cycle, in particular, prior to Covid.

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