Drop off Cert students at a paying school in South Dublin starts High Court case against government

STUDENTS from a South Dublin fee school who received the results of the certificate of completion earlier this month have started legal proceedings against the government.

The documents were presented on behalf of the students and the board of directors of the German School of St Kilian in Clonskeagh in High Court on Tuesday.

The paid school specializes in teaching German in preschool, primary and post-primary age.

The court documents list the State, the Attorney General, the Minister of Education and Skills and the Minister of Continuing and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science as co-defendants in the case.

The students and the school’s board are represented by attorney Eileen McCabe, who also represented a Mayo student who successfully challenged the government’s decision to exclude him from the grading process this year.

An affidavit from St. Kilian Principal Alice Lynch is also among the documents filed yesterday.

Earlier this month, it was reported that 14% of Leaving Certificate students at St Kilian’s received H1 grades in German based on the calculated process, compared to 41% of students who received H1 grades in the normal exam process last year.

The school subsequently wrote to the Department of Education to question the grades awarded to students this year.

Under the computed grade process, students received grades based on teacher and school feedback along with other information as part of a process designed by experts from the State Testing Commission and other agencies.

A native-speaking German student, who is among those named in the court documents, told RTÉ that he earned an H2 rating despite expecting an H1 because he has spoken German his entire life.

The latest proceedings follow the High Court’s first challenge to the calculated process, which was launched by Aine Finnegan of Fairview in Dublin last week.

The Department of Education and attorney Eileen McCabe have been contacted by TheJournal.iewhile St Kilian’s board of directors declined to comment.

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