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Education Minister Joe McHugh said the State Testing Commission told the government that it could not ignore the legality of Leaving Certificate tests that were conducted in a different format than in other years.
He told the Dáil that an original version of the tests was modeled, based on public health councils made available to the government. This would have involved only one exam per day and exams from July 29 to September.
It would also have involved having documents that lasted an hour and a half and staggered the entrance to the exam rooms.
“When we brought it to the partners around the table, after receiving advice from the State Examination Commission, we decided that they could not ignore the legality and validity of an exit certificate that is not comparable to any other year which is what he informed us about. “
“We in the department, myself as a minister, made the decision based on the information we had that it would not be safe, it would not be correct, and ultimately it would not be fair,” McHugh said.
He was responding to questions from the Labor Party’s Aodhán Ó Ríordáin, which called for the publication of the councils made available to the minister on which he based his decision.
There was a tense exchange between the two about the concerns raised by Mr. O’Ríordáin about the impact of school profile on students from disadvantaged backgrounds.
McHugh said it was “an absolute disgrace” that Labor was “pedaling that line” because students “whether they are in a community school, a Deis school or a private school, will not be discriminated against.”
The minister told the house that while the Leaving Cert is important, life is important.
The system that is in place now will allow students to advance to the next stage of their lives, he said.
He added that there is no easy solution to the difficulties we face, and that this is the fairest and most equitable way to face the challenges we face.
Fianna Fáil has called for sanctions to discourage parents from putting pressure on teachers who grade Leaving Cert students.
Education spokesman Thomas Byrne said there are legal vulnerabilities for the state and that there is a need to ensure that no one will be “disadvantaged” or “advantageous” by the new system.
Rep. Byrne said he believes Minister McHugh “is not consulting with outside experts on grade adjustment” and that he needs independent advice on the methodology used by the Department of Education.
Sinn Féin’s education spokesman Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire said the Leaving Cert students have suffered “incredible anxiety.”
He told Dáil that while it was correct to cancel the exams, he is not convinced that the correct alternative was chosen.
MP Laoghaire said there are many students who know they can “turn on the gas” at the end of the year.
He asked how those students will obtain their grades and what guidance will be given to schools on the material that can be used to design a calculated grade.
Last week, the minister announced a newly designed ‘calculated grades’ system to replace this year’s Leaving Cert exams that have been canceled this summer.
All students have been given the option to take written exams at a later date, still to be determined, if they so choose.
Students may also appeal the grades they receive.
Read more:
Lots of questions during today’s Dáil debate, but few answers – Emma O’Kelly
5 things we learned about Leaving Cert from this year
The latest coronavirus stories
Additional reports Aisling Kenny and David Murphy
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