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Enrollment for all Leaving Cert students has ceased and students are now prohibited from discussing their grades or class rankings with their teachers, the Department of Education confirmed.
Classes officially ended on Monday, May 11, and students are instructed not to submit any additional work to teachers. Any attempt to contact teachers will be considered “scrutiny.”
In a statement, the department said, “No additional work will be accepted from students as of this date. Teachers and students cannot discuss student achievement in the subject in the past two years. Nor can they discuss student classification. student in a class, or their estimated grade or the level at which an estimated grade will be provided in a subject. “
While enrollment has ceased, the department says that Leaving Cert students remain students in their schools through the end of the period and that “their well-being must be supported in accordance with the department’s guidelines on the role of the student support team. “
Officials are understood to be working on a “protocol” likely to indicate that any scrutiny regarding the calculated grades will have to be formally recorded at the school level and sent to the department.
Any attempt to influence teachers in relation to the calculated grading process will be considered “totally inappropriate and will be considered as a scrutiny,” the department said.
He said a detailed guide for teachers and principals on this is being developed and will be available soon.
Meanwhile, teachers are informed that they must wait until they have received training and guidance from the department before doing any work in the calculated grading process.
The department says training and detailed guidance will be available “shortly.”
Teacher unions have been told that this qualification process will take several weeks and is likely to be completed in late May or June.
The government expects to be in a position to issue grades to students in August, similar to the normal results schedule.
Covid-19 concerns
Last week, the government confirmed that it had canceled plans to take the summer Leaving Cert exam due to Covid-19 concerns and will offer all students the option to accept “calculated grades.”
Additionally, students will have the option of taking the Leaving Cert written exams at a later date when the public health council allows it, possibly later this year or early next.
A detailed guide on how to calculate grades for Leaving Cert students taking additional subjects outside of school is also being developed, the department said.
A spokesperson said that in the case of routine schools, teachers would provide an estimated grade and rating “fairly for all candidates” and the department “would seek to provide a calculated grade.”
“When relevant information is not available to inform a calculated grade, the student will have the opportunity to take the written Exit Certificate exam at the safest and most practical time,” he said.
Concerns over the rating calculations have been raised since last Friday’s announcement that the Leaving Cert would not take place this summer as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.
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