Fifth year students left limbo over Leaving Cert
THE FATHER of a student due to sit the Leaving Certificate next year says current fifth year students have been forgotten about in the scramble to sort out this year’s examinations.
Following a decision at Cabinet, all sixth-year students are to be offered the option of receiving Calculated Grades for the subjects they are studying and the alternative of sitting the 2020 Leaving Certificate examinations at a date in the future when it is considered safe to hold the examinations.
The decision was taken following an assessment of public health advice and other information and the implications for holding the exams from the previously rescheduled date of Wednesday, July 29 2020.
However, Garrett O’Reilly of Wicklow town maintains that students currently attending fifth year and due to sit the Leaving Certificate in 2021 have been left in limbo. His daughter Naoise is a fifth year student with Dominican College Wicklow.
‘There is still a lot of uncertainty out there among fifth year students. The main issue is that they have already missed around three months of course work this year due to the Covid-19 restrictions.
‘We don’t know when things will return to normal and schools might still be shut as late as September. It was a good idea to postpone this year’s Leaving Certificate. They have only missed the last three months, and most would be able to catch up through revision.
‘Teachers also already have a fair idea of how those students are doing for the Calculated Grades option. Fifth year students have missed a lot of time and are worried about what the future holds for them,’ said Mr O’Reilly.
Sixth year teachers will be asked to provide a professional judgment of each student’s attainment which will be subjected to a rigorous in-school alignment process to ensure fairness. The school principal will approve the estimated scores being provided and the rankings of each student in each subject in the school.
Mr O’Reilly thinks shortening next year’s sixth year curriculum might be the fairest way to deal with fifth year students who haven’t been able to attend school for the past number of months.
‘I think the Department of Education should consider maybe shortening the curriculum for next year’s Leaving Certificate in line with the work already issued. It’s not just the fact the students have missed school for three months.
‘I know a lot of fifth year students have found it difficult to carry out their course work at home because some households are quite chaotic during lockdown and it can be hard to find somewhere peaceful to carry out the course work.
‘If students come across a course problem they aren’t familiar with, they don’t have access to teachers and friends to try and solve the problem. It has been a difficult time for them and this needs to be considered for next year’s Leaving Certificate,’ said Mr O’Reilly.