Tim Lombard (Fine Gael)
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I welcome the Minister of State to the House. Although her portfolio does not fall under the Minister for Education, it is great to have her here.

I am seeking clarification with regard to an issue that has emerged in my part of the world in the past four or five days. I would like the Minister for Education to make a statement on the plans in place to accommodate students who are due to sit the State examinations in June and are deemed to be close contacts of a person who has Covid-19. We have put in place a platform of work for the leaving certificate such that a student who is due to sit the leaving certificate examinations may resit the examinations if affected by a family tragedy, Covid-19 or other circumstances. However, the junior certificate student does not have the ability to do that. Many of those due to take the junior certificate examinations this year are 16 years of age. They are not eligible for the booster vaccine so if they are deemed to be a close contact they must restrict their movements for seven days. Today, there are three young people in west Cork who should be sitting their mock examinations but because they have been deemed a close contact they have had to remain at home. I was contacted by their parents at the weekend. While they are willing to put up with this for the mock examinations, they want to know that if this happens again in June their children will have an opportunity to resit their examinations. That is an exceptionally stressful issue not alone for the students but also for the parents and teachers.

We need to find a solution for those under 16 years of age who under regulation are not eligible for the booster vaccine but when deemed to be a close contact must restrict their movement for seven days because on that basis they will not be allowed to sit their State examinations. It is an appalling situation. The Department website provides clear guidance in respect of leaving certificate students who, ironically, are eligible for the booster vaccine. Junior certificate students who are under 16 do not have that opportunity. This is a really significant issue that has the potential to affect thousands of students over the next few weeks. This is happening at the moment in my constituency. I am sure that Deputies and Senators throughout the country have similarly received telephone calls about it. We need to find a solution that accommodates teenagers who are under 16 years of age and therefore not eligible for the booster vaccine, but if deemed a close contact must restrict their movements for seven days and on that basis will not be able to sit their State examinations.

I realise that the National Public Health Emergency Team, NPHET, is meeting today. If one reads the papers, which are rarely wrong, NPHET is to recommend the lifting of the requirement to wear a face mask within the education sector but there is nothing about amending the State examinations process in regard to the junior certificate cycle. We need to find a solution. We need NPHET, the Department of Health and the Department of Education to come together in the next few hours to find that solution; otherwise this dilemma which thousands of students, parents and teachers are in will continue. It is totally unacceptable.

Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Senator for raising the issue. I am replying on behalf of the Minister for Education, Deputy Foley.

Following a Government decision on 1 February, the Minister for Education announced details regarding arrangements for the 2022 State junior cycle and leaving certificate examinations. These details were finalised following extensive engagement with the advisory group on planning for the State examinations. The advisory group includes representatives of students, parents, teacher unions, school management bodies, the State Examinations Commission, the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment, the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, the Higher Education Authority and the Department of Education.

In her announcement, the Minister confirmed that the junior cycle examinations will run in June 2022 as normal for the first time since 2019. This year is also the first year that all of the new subject specifications for the junior cycle will be examined by the State Examinations Commission. To take account of the disruption to learning experienced by junior cycle students, adjustments to the assessment arrangements for the junior cycle were announced in August 2021. These included a reduction in the number of classroom-based assessments to be completed, the removal of the requirement to complete assessment tasks and adjustments to the requirements in coursework and practical performance tests. Junior cycle students normally complete two classroom-based assessments in each subject. In the current school year, however, each student must complete a minimum of only one such assessment in each subject, with discretion in the case of most subjects as to which of the two assessment will be completed. These adjustments will provide for more teaching time in schools.

The junior cycle summer written examinations will begin on 8 June and finish on 20 June. All aspects of staging these examinations will be guided by the prevailing public health advice. The Department of Education and the State Examinations Commission have met with public health to discuss matters around the State examinations and this engagement is continuing in the lead-up to the examinations. The Minister would like to express her thanks to our public health colleagues for their ongoing assistance to the Department of Education throughout the Covid-19 pandemic.

A junior cycle student who is unable to sit his or her examinations for Covid-related reasons, which is the issued alluded to by the Senator, will still receive a junior cycle profile of achievement, which certifies the completion of a course of junior cycle studies for students. It is provided to them by their schools and draws upon and reports on achievement across all elements of assessment and not only performance in the State written examinations.This includes, as appropriate, ongoing formative assessment in the classroom; classroom-based assessments across subjects and short courses; level 1 and level 2 learning programmes; the area of well-being; and other areas of learning, such as performance in the school choir or debating society. There have been occasions when students could not sit the junior cycle written examinations due to illness. In these cases, students have still proceeded to the senior cycle. Schools and teachers facilitate the transition of students from junior to senior cycle by reflecting on the learning, interests and achievements of students in the junior cycle.

Tim Lombard (Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister of State for her response, the last portion of which was where the detail came in. I do not understand why, when it comes to the leaving certificate cycle, we have a completely different approach. The leaving certificate gives an opportunity for the resitting of the examination process in certain circumstances. It gives people the opportunity to sit the examination and go through a process. I know students who cannot do the mock examinations because they are self-isolating. A leaving certificate student would have the opportunity to retake those examinations. I do not understand why there is a different approach in the case of the junior cycle. That information is not out there. There is no clarity among the general public, teachers, parents and students about how the junior certificate cycle will work for a 16-year-old who has not had a booster jab and must restrict his or her movements. Such people fear they will sit at home for seven days and move into fourth year without having to do that State examination. Surely after three years they would have the opportunity to do that State examination. Surely after three years the Department of Education can accommodate them in the same way it can accommodate leaving certificate students.

I realise the pandemic changed things beyond all control but I do not think we have thought through how we are going to deal with the junior certificate State examination for a student who is under 16 and cannot get a booster jab. More thought must be put into the issue because I do not think enough thought has been put into it.

Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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We all know junior cycle students, directly or indirectly, who are about to sit their State examinations and have been affected by this. They have travelled a difficult journey in recent years. The Senator alluded to this but I know representatives of the Department of Education and the State Examinations Commission have met with members of the public health team to discuss matters around the State examinations. That engagement is continuing. NPHET is meeting today and should any changes be made to public health guidance, they will be included in the decision around State examinations.

The note I have here makes reference to why junior cycle students who cannot sit the main junior cycle examinations cannot avail of the same alternative set of examinations in the same way as leaving certificate students. The opportunity for certain categories of leaving certificate students to sit an alternative set of examinations recognises the high-stakes nature of those examinations as, effectively, the gateway for many to further or higher education, training, apprenticeships or the world of work. That is why resources have been prioritised towards making available an alternative sitting of examinations for leaving certificate students. The junior cycle examinations are not in the same category. I will relay the Senator's concerns to the Minister for Education.

Victor Boyhan (Independent)
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I thank the Minister of State for spending the time with us and completing all of the Commencement matters this morning. We in this House value her time and her presence, as a Minister of State, with us.