Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

One of the justifications the Government has given today for not affording students a hybrid leaving certificate is that 25% of the students do not have a junior certificate. I have never liked the leaving certificate but one of the arguments made in its favour by its proponents is that it is a fair exam that everybody sits on the same day. Now we have a scenario where three out of four students have had the practice of sitting a State examination but one out of four has not. Automatically, the logic of fairness goes out the window because some students have an advantage.

We had two reports, one from the Ombudsman for Children and the other from the Special Rapporteur on Child Protection, which clearly show that the pandemic has had a worse impact on children from disadvantaged areas than children from other communities around Ireland. Some students did not have access to laptops or remote study options, some missed school for a multitude of reasons, some did not have class time because their teachers were out sick and so on. Not every student experienced the pandemic in the same way but they are all being asked to sit the same examination, one that will have a real impact on their future. It is really unfair. The Government is grotesquely incorrect in pursuing this course.

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