Shane Curley (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire Stáit as ucht a bheith anseo ar maidin. Is léir go bhfuil géarghá le comhrá cuimsitheach ar an ábhar seo agus go bhfuil réiteach na bhfaidhbe seo ag teastáil láithreach ar mhaithe le daltaí na hardteiste 2025.

I thank Senator Pat Casey, with whom I have worked closely on this issue in recent weeks. Like me, he has fielded a high number of queries on this from students and concerned parents across Wicklow. The recent news relating to leaving certificate grade inflation, namely, that it is intended to reduce this year's post-marking adjustment to 5.5% from the previous pandemic average of 7.5%, sent shockwaves through the secondary school system and left leaving certificate students extremely anxious that they would miss out on their preferred course in the Central Applications Office, CAO, system.I have experience of this, having been a teacher for the past few years. Especially during the pandemic, this raised the anxiety levels of students. For context, between 2019 and 2020, there was a doubling of the number of students receiving a H1 grade in leaving certificate subjects. There is already enough anxiety associated with the leaving certificate. This is evidenced by recent Jigsaw research that revealed that 22% of leaving certificate students reported severe to very severe levels of depression during their leaving certificate year. It is widely acknowledged that exceptional measures were necessary during Covid-19 and that, generally, the Government got it right, but we need to get it right again now. No young person sitting the 2025 leaving certificate should have his or her dreams dashed because of previous measures that were out of that young person's control.

To further compound students' misery, a record 83,000 applicants have been made to this year's CAO, according to recent Irish Examinerarticles. This means that approximately 40% of applicants will be at a significant advantage in the points race, having done the leaving certificate in previous years when grade inflation was at its highest. This raises many serious questions. First, will the taxpayer have to foot the bill if students who miss out on courses successfully pursue the State legally? Second, can this be avoided by offering an increased number of spaces on third level courses in high demand in our colleges? If so, can this be communicated as soon as possible to these students to take them out of their misery in this year?

We all recognise that students who went through secondary school during the Covid-19 years were robbed of the best years of their lives. Nobody has an issue with the fact that they received inflated grades. However, we need to ensure a fair levelling out of grade inflation to ensure that future leaving certificate students are not unfairly discriminated against.