Fintan Warfield (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I commend the young people, especially those in the Irish Second-Level Students Union, which has been to the fore in ensuring that students had the choice to sit the leaving certificate examination or opt for accredited grading or both. The level of confident advocacy we have seen is heartening and bodes well for campaigns in the future. The ISSU has been central to the campaign to lower the voting age to 16 years. I believe the Minister could be an important part of that campaign.

Students taking the leaving certificate examination in 2021 have had a horrid time during the past two years. We support anything that makes their final assessment fair and reduces the stress and strain many of them face. Some aspects of the Bill need to be tightened up, however, because any lack of detail will result in unnecessary anxiety. We welcome the publication of legislation that protects teachers from unwelcome or unwarranted pressure regarding assessment. Teachers live in our communities. They should be free to train football teams, go to the shops or spend time with their children and so on.

We want any penalties associated with any offences in the Bill to be proportionate. A parent who has a word in the ear of a teacher about accredited grades is more likely to do so without telling the child or student. It would be very unfair to punish a student for the actions of the parents carried out without his or her knowledge. The Department must develop more detailed guidelines for teachers, students and parents.

We have placed two specific amendments for discussion on Committee Stage. They seek to differentiate cases where both the parent and student are aware of an approach to a teacher and those cases where the parent is acting alone. We do not want a student who suspects the parent might be capable of making such an approach to a teacher to spend months worried sick about the possible consequences for his or her future.

We are disappointed with the lack of detail around the standardisation processes that will be used this year.Section 2 is not detailed enough to reassure students that the mistakes made last year will not be repeated. My colleague in the Dáil, Deputy Ó Laoghaire, asked that more detail on standardisation be released well in advance of the publication of results. Could the Minister indicate if it is still intended to do this and whether a date has been set?

The Bill refers to the use of previous junior certificate data during standardisation. We seek clarity on that. Will it be the collective junior certificate data of the year group and not any individual's previous performance at junior certificate level that will be used in determining the accredited grades?

I mentioned the campaign to lower the voting age to 16. I cannot let the opportunity pass without saying a bit more about that matter. Many students make decisions at 16 or 17 that will impact on the rest of their lives. I and many others present believe they should be allowed to vote. Young people are going to the polls in Wales and Scotland. There are two Bills relating to this matter before the House and there is a constitutional amendment Bill before the Dáil. We should make the move as soon as possible to ensure that young people can vote at least in local and European elections as a first step in order to prove that we can win the referendum and reduce the voting age for all elections to 16.

While we are discussing the leaving certificate, I want to raise the commitment in the programme for Government to develop inclusive and age-appropriate relationship and sexuality and social, personal and health education curricula across primary and post-primary levels, including an inclusive programme on LGBTI+ relationships and making appropriate legislative changes if necessary. Does the Minister agree that it is now time to make appropriate legislative change, particularly as the door has been left open to do that in the programme for Government, in order to ensure that all children get inclusive sex education?