Calls for exam fees to be scrapped
FINE Gael councillor and Deputy Principal of the CBS Secondary School in Wexford, Cllr John Hegarty has written to Minister for Education Joe McHugh urging him to scrap exam fees for any families whose earnings have been impacted by Covid-19.
Cllr Hegarty welcomed the announcement that exams were to go ahead ‘by hook or by crook’ and said that it served to ‘take away some of the uncertainty that had been adding to the stress of thousands of students as they attempt to continue their studies in less than ideal circumstances’.
While students have expressed some major reservations over the decision to go ahead with exams, Cllr Hegarty says that he has ‘no doubt that whatever methods are devised will not unfairly penalise any of those sitting their exams in 2020 and as ever, students’ hard work will be rewarded.’
One thing Cllr Hegarty was keen to see changed, however, was the imposition of exam fees, which are €116 for Leaving Certs and €301 for repeating Leaving Certs.
‘Currently, only those with a valid medical card are exempt from paying those fees,’ he explained.
‘However, there are now many thousands of people who have lost their jobs either temporarily or on a permanent basis due to the impact of Covid-19. None of these will have access to the medical card exemption and yet will struggle to pay the exam fees.’
‘Therefore I put it to Minister McHugh that he should waive the cost for anyone who has had their earnings impacted due to the Covid-19 outbreak.’
Cllr Hegarty says he has received an acknowledgement of his letter and awaits further response.
‘Exams can be a stressful time in any household,’ he concluded. ‘Add into that now the fact that many houses are now in a worse financial situation, the country effectively in lockdown, whole families are confined to home with students trying to prepare for exams that may have a massive impact on their future. Getting rid of the exam fees for these people suffering financially is the right thing to do.’