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

All things come to he who waits. Why did the Minister for Education decide to back the biggest change to the leaving certificate in the history of that examination and announce this change without consultation with teachers? Does the Taoiseach understand that teachers feel that the goodwill they extended in producing predicted grades as a pandemic measure is now being abused by his Government? Does he expect teachers to mark 40% of the new leaving certificate examinations without major increases in pay? In Cork city, Bruce College is advertising courses in seven leaving certificate subjects for €825. Its website adds, "Fees are non-refundable - no allowance for absenteeism." Private grind schools are milking students' anxiety after the Covid pandemic, which negatively affected their teaching hours. Do they now want to take money off students who are unable to attend their grind classes as a result of Covid?

I would be interested to hear the Taoiseach's comments on this.

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