‘Students the silent victims of Covid-19’
THE Government’s stance on the Leaving Certificate is failing the 55,000 Leaving Cert students in Ireland. Ever since the schools were closed on March 13, we have been forced to study and learn in a way that no Leaving Cert student ever has before.
We have been almost entirely dependent on ourselves since that date and were working towards the exams going ahead in June as normal.
However, as the Covid-19 crisis grew, we wondered what would happen to the exams. We knew it would be unsafe to carry on as normal, so the majority of us began to warm to the idea of predicted grades.
In a poll conducted by the Irish Second-Level Students’ Union (ISSU), the majority of students supported this idea.
However, this clearly fell on deaf ears following the announcement by Education Minister Joe McHugh that the exams would be postponed until the end of July at the earliest.
The decision made no sense to the majority of students. It is totally unfair because:
1. If this goes ahead, we would have had approximately five months off school and would then be expected to sit the most important exams of our lives.
2. The decision disregards students’ mental health. We are already stressed enough, and now we are expected to prolong this mental agony by two months.
3. What happens if there is a second wave of Covid-19? Would the exams be postponed again?
4. If we are placed in a room with each other, there is a risk of us getting infected while taking these exams.
5. Online learning is not a level playing field as many students don’t have a reliable internet connection.
6. The majority of students have at least two or more subjects in which the course hasn’t yet been completed.
I conducted a poll to ascertain the feeling of my fellow sixth-years at Coláiste na Sceilge. The results showed 76pc disagreed with the Government’s decision to postpone the exams.
Of those who disagreed, 89pc agreed with predicted grades with a ‘no-detriment policy’, so if students disagree with their predicted grade they could take the exam to try to improve it.
The Government is treating us like we are too immature to think for ourselves, but many of us are now legal adults.
I understand the Government’s priority is making sure everyone is safe, but we seem to be the silent sufferers.
In 50 years’ time, this pandemic will be largely forgotten. However, its impact on our future will not be.
Many students now feel the best way to combat this issue is by protesting. I am warming to that idea as it seems inevitable the Government will continue to ignore us.