MIXED REACTION TO LEAVING ASTI will support Government postponement of June exams
Wexfordwoman Deirdre MacDonald, President of the ASTI said the organisation which represents teachers in the majority of second level schools in the county, has pledged to support the Minister for Education’s decision to postpone the June Leaving Cert examinations until later this year.
The Government announced that the Leaving Cert, which was due to start on June 3, would be postponed until late July, or early August, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, depending on the latest public health advice.
Ms. MacDonald, a native of Courtown living in Enniscorthy and a Maths and SPHE teacher at the CBS secondary school in Wexford, said members gave the ASTI ‘a strong message of overwhelming support for their students’.
The association’s willingness to be available to assist with ‘student preparation and face-to-face engagement’, will mean teachers and students returning to the classroom for two weeks before the exams under guidelines laid down by the National Public Health Emergency Team
‘These are extraordinary times that require extraordinary measures and the association will wholeheartedly support the wellbeing, mental health and the exam preparations of students,’ said Ms. MacDonald.
She said the ASTI will meet with the Department of Education and Skills and other relevant agencies in an attempt to resolve a number of issues raised by teachers.
‘We have concerns about practicals, special education needs, project work and equity and these will have to be cleared up. If we could sort these out, it would relieve a lot of the stress on students.
‘We want to take as much stress as possible off the students,’ said Ms. MacDonald, adding that Leaving Cert 2020 students will be a resilient bunch following this experience. ‘You can’t teach resilience. You build resilience like you build immunity. This generation of students are going to be so fit for purpose after this when they go to third level, apprenticeships or work. They’re going to be so resilient after coming through this and that will stand to them for the rest of their lives,’ she said.
‘We are very cognisant of the wellbeing implications posed by this pandemic to everyone, especially our students,’ she added.