Government set to discuss plans for Leaving Certificate

Recent weeks have seen calls for a rethink about how school exams are to be held in Ireland this year.

Education Minister Norma Foley (Brian Lawless/PA) (PA Wire)

The Irish Government will meet on Tuesday to discuss plans regarding what form the Leaving Certificate will take this year.

It comes amid reports that Education Minister Norma Foley is planning to rule out a hybrid approach to the state exams, despite calls from students and opposition parties.

The Cabinet will meet on Tuesday to discuss the issue.

Recent weeks have seen calls for a rethink about how school exams are to be held in Ireland this year, amid concerns about the disruption students have faced.

I think Minister Foley and the Department of Education has shown remarkable flexibility over the last number of years to try to accommodate the concern and the stress of students

Simon Coveney

Staff absences caused by Covid-19, as well as the experience of school during a two-year long pandemic, have prompted calls for another year of a “non-traditional” Leaving Certificate exam.

These calls focused on a hybrid approach to exams in which students would have a choice between sitting exams and accredited grades.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney when asked about the issue on RTE radio on Tuesday morning, said he understood it had been “incredibly stressful for students”.

“All I can say is first, Minister Norma Foley has been working on this issue since August.

“She’s listened to an awful lot of different interested parties and stakeholders, and obviously is working with her department and trying to get this right. One of the big problems here is that one in four students doing their Leaving Cert this year, didn’t do their Junior Cert, because of Covid.

“I think Minister Foley and the Department of Education has shown remarkable flexibility over the last number of years to try to accommodate the concern and the stress of students. And my understanding is that Minister Foley will try and do that again this time, but there’s also an obligation on her to to ensure that it’s fair and that the integrity of the Leaving Cert is protected as well.

“And so I want to hear what she has to say this morning. I suspect we’ll have a discussion in Cabinet on this.”

Opposition parties were quick to stress their opposition to any move that would rule out a hybrid option.

Sinn Fein education spokesperson Donnchadh O Laoghaire called it a “desperate decision”.

“Absolutely gutted for leaving Cert students,” he tweeted.

“The Minister has refused to listen to students, and failed to understand the level of disruption. Tradition should not trump sense or fairness.”

Labour TD Aodhan O Riordain, who has been campaigning on the issue, said he was “devastated” for students who had campaigned on the issue.

In a post on Twitter, he said: “This is a betrayal by a dept with no imagination, welded to tradition having convinced themselves that all is fine.”