Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for his question and his earlier remarks. We will work together on the issue of gender-based violence and violence against women.

On the question of the leaving certificate, we fully accept the challenges and we know that the education and learning experience of many students has been disrupted this year. All of the planning for the 2022 examinations was guided, above all, by the prevailing public health advice with regard to the well-being of students. Significant adjustments have already been made to this year's leaving certificate to allow for that disruption that has been experienced by students. Adjustments to the assessment arrangements for the 2022 leaving certificate examinations were announced in August 2021. They were designed to take account of the disruption to learning experienced by students in the early part of 2021 and to make allowance for some possible further disruption in the 2021-22 school year.

They allow for greater choice for students while retaining the familiar overall structure of the exam. The Department of Education and State Examinations Commission, SEC, have sought to make as much information as possible on examinations available to students as early as possible. That is why the adjustments were communicated in the summer of last year.

Last month, it was announced that the oral and practical examinations will take place outside of school time over the first week of the school Easter holidays. The SEC aims to minimise disruption to teaching and learning by taking that initiative. These were all pre-emptive moves that were taken conscious of disruption that had already happened.

The Minister and Department continue to engage with the partners and stakeholders. A meeting of the advisory group on planning for State examinations, which involves the student unions and patrons, is taking place tomorrow. That is an important forum for the Minister and all the stakeholders involved, namely, students, parents, teachers, school leaders, the SEC, the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment, NCCA, and higher education bodies.

The Deputy made an important point when he said the leaving certificate examination cannot be a carbon copy of last year. There are challenges with the hybrid model in year three. We will all be aware that in the previous two years, the Minister with responsibility for higher education, Deputy Harris, in engagement with the third level sector, managed to squeeze many extra places. That happened for two years in succession. The capacity of the third level sector to provide that equivalent number of places this year may not be as high, and that is to put it charitably. That creates an additional challenge. We know hybrid models can create grade inflation. There are, therefore, challenges with the hybrid model that have to be assessed. I need to put that out there. The Minister and Department will engage with all the representative groupings in a meeting of the advisory group tomorrow. I accept the need for clarity as quickly as possible.

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