Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Gabhaim buíochas, a Chathaoirligh, as an deis a bheith anseo inniu. I thank the Cathaoirleach for the opportunity to be here today.

A great deal has happened since my last appearance here both for the country as a whole in terms of the move to level 3 of the Plan for Living with Covid-19 earlier this week, as well as for students who availed of calculated grades, some of whom received increased grades during last weekend. In the interim I also brought proposals to Government during that time on school transport which is a subject which many Senators raised on the last occasion I was in this House.

Last Saturday I announced that we had identified the final number of students and their grades that were affected by errors that had occurred in how elements of the software used in the calculated grades system had been implemented. As Members also know, earlier in the week I had first spoken about two errors that had been found in the coding used in the calculated grades process.

The model was designed to take the junior cycle results of a group of students and use that group's results to inform the calculation of their leaving certificate results. It bears restating that the system did not take the results of a single student's junior cycle exams and apply it to that specific student's leaving certificate calculated grade. Rather, the system looked at performance at an aggregate class level in the junior cycle examinations, and applied that in calculating students' leaving certificate results. The model was intended to use the students' scores in Irish, English and maths and their two strongest subjects. The error we discovered meant that the coding drew on the students' two weakest subjects rather than the two strongest subjects.

A second error concerned the inclusion of civic social and political education, when this should have been disregarded by the system. At that point, I decided to seek independent expert oversight in the interest of certainty, particularly for our students. I commissioned Education Testing Services, ETS, to provide an independent expert opinion on the coding. On Saturday, I received a statement from ETS and published it that afternoon.

ETS raised two issues in its review. The first was an error which occurred in the use of data, where a student did not sit all three core subjects at junior cycle. A small minority of students do not sit one of the three core subjects in their junior cycle examinations for a variety of reasons. In those cases, the system was meant to use the average national junior cycle score in the missing subject of the group of students who took their leaving certificate in 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020. Instead, it chose that student's next best subject for inclusion in the group computation.

The second issue raised by ETS is how the algorithm treated students' marks at the extreme ends of the scale, that is, students who received between 99% and 100% marks or between 0% and 1%. The treatment does not exactly match what is described in the national standardisation group's report but ETS has confirmed that both approaches are equally valid. ETS confirmed that this does not have any meaningful impact on results as it could not have changed any student's grades. The corrected model has been run again and this allowed revised increased grades to be issued to affected students on Saturday evening.

The final, definitive number of students impacted was 6,100 involving an increase to 6,870 grades which broke down as follows: 5,408 students will receive a higher grade, by one grade band, in one subject; 621 students will receive a higher grade, by one grade band, in two subjects; and 71 students will receive a higher grade, by one grade band, in three or more subjects. Importantly, no student will receive a lower grade as a result of this process.

Earlier today, I understand the CAO has made approximately 420 offers to students who received revised increased grades on Saturday and that this means such students can be accommodated in the current academic year. I want to wish those students every success in their studies and to acknowledge the support of the Minister, Deputy Harris, his Department, the Higher Education Authority, the CAO and the higher education institutions in facilitating these students. There are some students who submitted appeals in regard to the calculated grades which they received initially. The calculated grades executive office in my Department has been progressing those appeals and it is expected that the results of those appeals will be available next week.

Without doubt, we need to learn lessons from the errors that came to light in recent weeks and I have already announced that an independent comprehensive review of the operation of the calculated grades process will take place when the process is complete.

As Senators will be aware, the student portal for leaving certificate candidates to apply to sit one or more examinations in November 2020 closed at 5 p.m. yesterday, having been extended at my request. Provisional data to hand from the State Examinations Commission, SEC, indicates that 2,320 candidates have applied to sit the 2020 leaving certificate examinations. This represents 4.85% of the leaving certificate candidature for 2020.Further details are not available at this time until the SEC can analyse the data from the portal.

The reopening of schools is a clear priority for Government and indeed for me since becoming Minister for Education and Skills. When Government met earlier this week to consider the latest National Public Health Emergency Team, NPHET, advice, it was very clear that keeping schools open continued to be a priority and would influence any decision taken. Public health specialists working with schools and the Department of Health are closely monitoring the outcomes of mass testing in schools to ensure that where schools are open with appropriate infection prevention and control measures, there is no additional threat to public health. The data that they are collecting are informing the decisions and recommendations of NPHET in this respect. In recent days, this issue has been afforded careful consideration by NPHET. In recommending that schools remain open, NPHET has considered the national experience of school reopening to date, including the epidemiological data and information gathered through case and outbreak management.

The decision to recommend that schools remain open in the context of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and the current trajectory of the disease in Ireland is based on multiple factors, including the following. The Irish experience to date supports the current international position that schools are low-risk environments for Covid-19 and are not key drivers of transmission in the community. Many cases of Covid-19 linked to schools in Ireland have been found to have exposure to the disease outside of the school environment, for example, in a household or social setting. Similarly, where testing of close contacts of confirmed cases linked to the school identifies additional cases of Covid-19, many of these are found to have had exposure to the disease outside of the school environment. The importance of schools for the overall health and well-being of children cannot be overstated, and the risk of Covid-19 must be carefully weighed against the very real harm that can be caused by sustained school closures. When children do develop Covid-19, the great majority experience no symptoms or very mild symptoms. International evidence and the Irish experience to date suggest that adults are not at higher risk of Covid-19 in the school setting than in the wider community or household.

In supporting these conclusions, the Department of Health has provided my Department with some up-to-date factual information. As already noted, the Irish experience to date is reassuring and supports the current international position that schools and childcare facilities do not appear to be key drivers of Covid-19 transmission in the community. The Department of Health also notes that these additional cases did not necessarily develop Covid-19 as a result of contact with an index case in the school, and the additional cases detected via contact tracing are likely to include people who contracted Covid-19 as result of exposure in the wider community, for example, in a household or social setting. Finally, there was no significant change in the proportion of total weekly Covid-19 cases attributable to school-aged children before and after reopening of schools, supporting the hypothesis that children are not at increased risk from Covid-19 in the school setting. Everyone in a school community and more generally in society has a role to play in contributing to the fight against Covid-19 and the achievement of the objective of keeping our schools open. It will be necessary for all stakeholders to reflect on experience over the initial period of schools being open and any further or evolving public health advice.

A key element to supporting students in getting to school safely is the operation of the school transport scheme. The Department has been engaging intensively with Bus Éireann in regard to the logistics for the safe operation of school transport scheme services for the 2020-2021 school year. The Department has also been engaging with Bus Éireann on the logistics involved with the rolling implementation of measures on post-primary services as required to provide physical distancing. The implementation of 50% capacity has been put in place where possible over recent weeks, while Bus Éireann has been carrying out a detailed analysis of the resources required to implement fully the advice on all routes.

Bus Éireann and my Department have supported all bus contractors to put in place measures to support infection prevention and control on the buses. My Department has also issued detailed information and guidance to parents and children on the operation of school transport services for the 2020-2021 school year. Measures include all post-primary students wearing masks, all bus drivers and bus escorts receiving personal protective equipment, PPE, where necessary, as well as funding to support additional cleaning and hygiene measures, including the provision of sanitiser on all buses. Seating plans with preassigned seating are in place on all routes, with children sitting next to their siblings or classmates where possible. This reduces the interaction of children on the buses with those outside of their family, class or school.

Government has agreed to provide the necessary funding to ensure that full implementation of the public health recommendation of running buses for post-primary children is achieved as quickly as possible on the post-primary scheme and on the special educational needs scheme for post-primary children. As well as additional funding, significant numbers of up to 1,600 additional buses and drivers and bus escorts will be required. Bus Éireann is implementing different means of providing extra capacity with existing operators, including upgrading vehicles, additional runs or additional vehicles being provided. Where additional services will need to be procured, Bus Éireann has put in place a framework of operators that are willing to provide additional services where required. An analysis has been conducted to determine what is required to implement fully all post-primary school services to operate at 50% capacity. The estimated full-year cost to operate all services at 50% capacity is substantial, with an estimated requirement for an additional 1,600 drivers and vehicles and 650 additional school bus escorts. The full cost will be determined as Bus Éireann finalises the logistical arrangements involved.

I offer my best wishes to those students who have today received CAO offers and to acknowledge again to the wider body of students the concern and anxiety that the issues surrounding calculated grades have caused. I look forward to hearing from Senators.