Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein)
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285. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the steps his Department and the SEC are undertaking with regard to the leaving certificate of 2021 in view of the fact that the 2020 fifth year cohort have also suffered significantly from the lack of building-based schooling in recent times [9303/20]

Joe McHugh (Donegal, Fine Gael)
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Following the school closure in March 2020, my Department published a range of guidance to assist schools and teachers in ensuring continuity of teaching and learning for students as well as supporting their wellbeing during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

This guidance aimed, inter alia, to ensure regular engagement of students in lessons, tasks and learning experiences across the range of curriculum subjects, provision of regular assignments and regular, practical, supportive and customised feedback on work submitted. 

Schools adopted various ways to engage with their students in accordance with the technology and broadband resources available in school and at home, including by post, e-mails, communication apps, the school website, use of other digital communicative platforms, including live meetings. Schools were asked to be conscious of pupils who may not have access to online facilities and to adapt approaches so that these pupils continued to have the opportunity to participate in learning.

The aim of these distant learning approaches, the guidance which issued to all schools and the regular engagement with students, was to ensure that students stayed connected with and progressed their learning.  These actions will, therefore, have helped to minimise the impact of school closure. 

In the context of planning for a return to school which is underway, my Department is, inter alia, considering the curriculum, i.e. what needs to be put in place to support ongoing progression for learners and addressing any shortfall that may result from school closures.  Those going into sixth year in post primary schools are a group that will receive a particular focus in the context of preparations for the Leaving Certificate examinations in 2021.

My Department is acutely aware of the challenges faced by students at this difficult time, and how the current circumstances  will continue to present challenges into the future. The welfare of students is, and will continue to be, front and centre in all decision making.