[ad_1]
Ian McDonagh is busy these days. The 18 year old Leaving Certificate student is studying for his exams. She also works a 30-hour week as a health care assistant at a local nursing home.
“I have been working part time at the nursing home since last year,” he tells RTÉ News. “When the pandemic started, I knew I could get out there and focus on studying, but I thought ‘why would I leave them on the bad days when they’ve been there for me in the good?'”
If the exams continue this summer, Merlin College, a Galway student who is a traveler, will be the first in their family to earn the Certificate of Exit.
The nursing home sector has been severely affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, with 50% of all deaths occurring among nursing home residents.
There has been no case of Covid-19 at the Bushfield Care Center, where Ian works.
“I’m mainly working on the weekends,” says Ian. “I took an additional weekly shift when the pandemic broke out.”
“I have a great relationship with residents. Their families cannot come, so we health care assistants are taking on the role of family. We are their shoulder to support each other.”
“I had a great time with the residents, sitting down to tell them stories and tell them about the good old days. They would be educating me about their farms and things like that.”
Many of the residents, he says, come from agricultural backgrounds.
As for his schoolwork, Ian says he is aware of the homework the teachers are doing, “and I’m doing a little extra work,” he adds.
He says his teachers are being very supportive.
At a time when many Leaving Certificate students are experiencing stress and anxiety related to exam postponement and the uncertainty that has arisen, Ian feels that the fact that he is working in the nursing home is helping his school work. He says he is giving it structure.
“Actually, it makes me want to study more. When I know I have to be at work, I know I have to do my homework.”
“Then when I get to work, I leave everything out and give my time and effort to residents who need me.”
Ian is studying seven subjects for his certificate of departure. In addition to English, Irish and mathematics, she is also studying biology, home economics, geography and construction.
Only 13% of Traveler students make it to the Leaving Cert.
Ian wants to become a garda when he leaves school. It’s a dream he’s had since he “fell in love with the uniform” when he was a little boy. He wants to become a garda and be open about the fact that he is also a traveler. “I want to break barriers,” he says.
Ian says his parents are extremely supportive and guiding him as much as they can. When asked if they are proud of him, he admits they are.
Ian spoke at an Oireachtas committee hearing last year about the difficulties nomadic children face in the educational system.
On exams and school closings, Ian says he feels the class of 2020 is being deprived of his education. “We don’t have our teachers in front of us.”
“He is great. He has stepped in,” Adrienne Leonard, Clinical Nurse at the Bushfield Care Center, told RTÉ News.
“We really appreciate Ian here. He has a great positive attitude. He is a team player and very good with the residents.”
Ian says he was proud when he landed his part-time job in the limelight more than a year ago. Clearly, you have a strong sense of loyalty to home.
“They are fantastic people, residents and staff,” he says.
The fact that he is busy working in such an important environment has given him a perspective beyond the Leaving Cert.
“I’m busy,” laughs this front-line worker, “if I’m not studying I’m at work, but being here motivates me.”
[ad_2]