‘We are close to breaking point’

AMY GARLAND (18) ST AIDAN’S, COOTEHILL, CO CAVAN

IURGE Education Minister Joe McHugh not to put the tradition of the Leaving Certificate above the mental health of young people. A 12-month Leaving Cert year without a summer break is not a solution, unless you want to destroy our mental health.

I am not one to normally stand up and voice my opinion. In this case, I feel it is my duty to stand up for the class of 2020.

Discovering that the exams may take place in July and August was heartbreaking. For many students, this was to be their last summer before entering the big, bad world. It was supposed to be our summer.

Ireland is a modern country. We have made so many changes that us students are proud of. But this is not a decision I am proud of.

There are 55,000 students at home, some trying to study, some trying to follow online classes, and some sitting in a corner crying because of all this pressure they are feeling.

Leaving Certificate year is hard at the best of times, but now that Covid-19 is here you can only imagine the stress we are feeling.

Of course, there is the worry that one of us could catch the virus and not be able to study.

However, our main concerns are focused on the possibility of a loved one who has an underlying condition contracting the disease.

There is also the worry that there is not enough money coming into the house, as well as possibly having to look after a younger sibling while preparing for the Leaving Cert. It is just too much.

So, what am I proposing? What the UK system has put in place is outstanding.

Their solution is what we should be following.

A-Level students will receive predicted grades.

If a student is unhappy with these results, they have the option to sit their exams in autumn, if possible.

If a student has worked hard over the past two years, they will get the grade they deserve, and the teachers will be willing to award that.

We don’t even know if we will have the course finished by the time of our exams.

To go ahead with the exams in July would be extremely unfair.

The Government doesn’t know what will happen in the next few weeks, never mind the next few months, so how can the exams go ahead?