Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I agree with the Minister in applauding the extraordinary work of so many school staff, particularly in the challenging period since Christmas. I do not agree with her on the amendment. As Deputy Carthy outlined, it effectively commits this House to nothing at all. Therefore, we will be pressing our motion.

I am not sure if the people who do not have a child in school or are not in regular contact with schools understand the level of disruption that has been caused. Since they came back, almost half of students missed one to three classes on average a day with 9% missing four to five classes a day. Nobody is to blame for teacher absences but it is the reality we are dealing with. Of those who missed a class because of teacher absences, 54% of students only had substitutes for some classes and 17.5% had no substitute cover for any of those classes that they missed. I will give the example of one student and this is far from an isolated incident. One student who spoke to me said that on their third day back to school, of the seven scheduled classes, they had only two classes and there was no cover for the other five classes, just supervision. That is the scale of disruption we are dealing with and shows how hard it is to cover the course.

There is no doubt that there is a challenge with grade inflation. However, if the hybrid model is not put in place, this year's students will be competing with last year's students who deferred. If the points are significantly lower, they will have quite a challenging set of circumstances. We need to look to next year and support them. We need to work on a longer-term strategy on that when we go for the hybrid model if, as I hope, we do this year. We undoubtedly need to plan for that. We create a challenging set of circumstances for this year's students if we do not adopt the hybrid model.

Regarding standardisation, as the Minister will be aware from what we said two years ago, we do not agree with the use of historical school data. Many options are available. Obviously, it needs to be done in consultation with stakeholders to produce a form of standardisation which we all accept is necessary. That could be using averages of a class group, a cohort as a whole or by using additional samples such as in the assessment tool that was used in the North. There are options that can be used to achieve standardisation. We should not be basing it on school historical data, which we know disadvantages pupils in schools which previously had lower results, very often in working-class areas or areas of high disadvantage.

It is important not to forget about the junior certificate students. They are also struggling with uncertainty. It is important that we ease the pressure and stress on them by offering them additional choice within exam papers.

What is needed is obvious. First, we need a decision. It has become very difficult for leaving certificate students to know what they are preparing for. What are they working towards? What will the coming momentous months look like for them? We need a decision as soon as possible. I have become even more certain as I listened to the contributions from various Deputies across the House. It is apparent that the circumstances in which these leaving certificate students are undertaking the senior cycle means that there is a clear requirement for a hybrid model.

It is worth recognising that students are not a bit flippant about this. Last year, some people were calling for the cancellation of the exams. It was necessary the previous year but it was not necessary last year. I did not support that call and students did not support that call because many of them wanted to sit the exam. They wanted the opportunity to test themselves. In every subject, a majority sat the exams. It was up to 70% in the English paper. Students want that opportunity, but they need the fail-safe because while there are some subjects they have fully covered and want to sit the exam, they know they are way behind in other subjects and they are just not able to cover the course. As different teachers cover the course in different ways, additional choice on papers will not quite cut it. The circumstances of each school and each student will be different in that regard.

We know this can be done. It was delivered last year. People last year said it was unrealistic. However, it was realistic. It was delivered. It happened. Credit is due to the Minister, the Department and most of all the teachers, staff and students for that. There is no reason it cannot be done this year and the only question is whether it is warranted. I believe that question is clearly answered. It is absolutely warranted. I urge the Minister to take the same approach and give the students the choice. She should give the students that clarity, put this issue to rest and provide them with reassurance.

See this speech in context