Jerry Buttimer (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I loved reading Peig. I am probably in a minority of one in saying that. I did not like other aspects of the leaving certificate, though, such as rote learning. We are on a section that deals with reviews. We should not adopt a straitjacket approach to reviews. We have changed the model of education. We have empowered more people, there is more engagement and there are more consultative processes. We have a wider variety of activities for parents, pupils and boards of management. My concern has to do with the qualification a student leaves school with after the leaving certificate. If a student is dissatisfied for some reason, we have an obligation to ensure he or she can appeal the final determination or have his or her performance examined further.

I admire the work that has been done by the Minister and her predecessor, Deputy McHugh. In one way, changes were foisted upon us and have led to a different type of exam process. We want to consider the welfare of the student. I am a big believer in the Maslow concept of reaching the point of self-actualisation. We should allow a student to exhaust all avenues by the end of the process.

I understand where the Minister is coming from, but I am worried the SEC or the Department is not prepared for a more thorough approach to the end game. I support the Minister in what she is doing. "Candidate" is the awful word that is used in the Bill, but it should be "student". That student is a person and that person is in a family. We all know what the stresses and strains of doing an ordinary leaving certificate were prior to Covid-19. Add to that blended learning, an on-off presence in school and now exams. I hope the Minister, as an tAire, will at the end of her tenure, whenever that will be, leave a legacy of real reform. I urge her, as the Minister for Education, to be that innovative and progressive Minister, and abandon the shackles, if any exist, and make the education system a different type - more innovative and more student-centred.

The Minister is right that the professionalism of teachers and those who educate young people is absolutely unbelievable. I refer to their quality, dedication and concern. I have seen all that work as a former educator, as someone who is married to an educator and an uncle of a leaving certificate student but I hope that we can go to the end of the bridge to make it a really different leaving certificate in 2022.