Uncertainty of not knowing was causing students
THE wait is finally over and although it will present a completely different climax to their secondary education Sixth Year students in Enniscorthy and across the county now know what they will be facing this year with the Government revealing an alternative plan to replace the cancelled Leaving Certificate exams.
Students are to be offered the option of accepting calculated grades instead of sitting the normal seated exams.
Under the proposal teachers will estimate a percentage mark for each student and also a ranking compared to classmates.
There will be an in-school alignment process which will involve all teachers working together to finalise estimated marks and rankings and these will be then reviewed by Principals who will sign off on marks or return them to teachers for further consideration.
The Principal in St Mary’s CBS, secondary school in Enniscorthy, John Ryan, said that things were a little up in the air on Friday but he said it wasn’t a surprise that the initial idea of having students sit their exams at the end of July was abandoned.
He said the State Exams Commission would have been working on contingencies since March 12.
‘We are in an emergency situation and we have to come up with a solution that will be good for this year’s leaving certificate group,’ said Mr Ryan.
‘It needs to include a lot of elements and not just be down to individual teachers,’ he said.
Mr Ryan also said there was a significant difference between predictive grades and expected grades.
He also said the welfare of the students was the most important thing and from that point of view cancelling the exams was a positive thing.
Cedric Aucher is a Sixth Year student in the school who hopes to study product design or engineering in college.
He said the decision has brought some relief.
‘It’s a huge relief not to have to worry about going into an exam centre and spreading any kind of infection,’ he said.
‘Even if you spread out there would have been a danger that it could still happen,’ he added.
Cedric said that would have been an added worry on top of dealing with the exams themselves.
He also feels that students having to sit ‘the real leaving certificate’ would not have been fair under the current circumstances.
Cedric expressed some concern over the fact that some students have undertaken a lot of community based work and as a result have perhaps spent a little less time on school based work and that is something that needs to be considered overall.
Dr Iain Wickham, Principal of Enniscorthy Vocational College, said the Department of Education was in an unenviable position and that the decision to cancel the planned exams on health and safety grounds was the correct course of action.
He said there was a noticeable increase in stress levels for students in recent weeks and that their overall health and wellbeing was the most important thing to consider.
Mr Wickham said there will likely be disappointments under the proposed scheme but added that trust will need to be placed in the professionalism of teachers with regard to marks awarded to students.
‘If someone isn’t happy they will be given the chance to sit the exam at a later stage,’ he said.
‘They will have to have a good appeals process,’ he added.
‘There are still a lot of little things that have to be worked out.’
Mr Wickham also said that quality assurance will have to be in place to ensure that results are ‘reliable and fair’.
‘Hopefully, there won’t be too many appeals going forward,’ he said.
He also said the timing of results will have to fit into the CEO schedule.
Sixth Year student in the