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

Last week, 500 school students in Cork, Dublin, Galway, Waterford, Wexford and Roscommon held a joint protest to demand that there be no traditional leaving certificate examination this year. I understand students are discussing the possibility of protests on a bigger scale. I sincerely hope such protests will not prove necessary. However, if the Minister and the Government choose not to listen to students and decide instead to drive forward with the traditional leaving certificate examination, there is a real possibility of large student protests to bring the Government to its senses. The Taoiseach told the Dáil today that students will have certainty within a week. If the Government fails to meet this deadline, sizeable student protests will also be a possibility.

These students have lost massive amounts of classroom time due to Covid-19. This is not a normal year and there can be no normal leaving certificate examination. Last week, the Ombudsman for Children, Dr. Niall Muldoon, issued a public statement calling for plans for a traditional leaving certificate examination to be abandoned. This statement deserved more attention than it received. It is not acceptable for the Minister to go against the wishes of 68% of leaving certificate students and the wishes of the Ombudsman for Children when he is addressing an issue affecting 60,000 young people. I warmly welcome the decision of the ASTI's central executive council last Saturday to pass a resolution stating the ASTI formally proposes open access to third level education as the only fair and equitable alternative to the leaving certificate examination of 2022.

Our society is crying out for more nurses, teachers, doctors and apprentices. Rather than forcing school students to compete against each for limited college places, the State should be creating more such places. Rather than having to throw money at employment agencies to scour the world for workers, the State should be training them here at third level. The State should invest heavily in third level education and provide a college place for all who want one. I would love to see the Teachers' Union of Ireland adopting a pro-open access stance as well, and to see both teachers' unions join forces with the school students' union to fight for college places for all. The leaving certificate represents the past. A college place for all on the basis of open access represents the future.

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