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A second home schooled final certificate student who was excluded from this year’s Calculated Grades process won his case in Superior Court.
In his ruling, Judge Charles Meenan said that the Department of Education’s failure to provide a system for the unidentified student was irrational, arbitrary, unfair and illegal.
The 17-year-old student was taught at home by her mother, with the help of her father and private tutors, neither of whom are registered teachers.
The department said it was not possible to include the student in the Calculated Grades process due to the absence of satisfactory and credible evidence from an appropriate source.
Last month, Mayo’s home schooled student Elijah Burke won his right in Superior Court to be included in the Calculated Grades process.
Mr. Burke had been homeschooled by his mother, who is a registered teacher.
Also in his case, the department said there was an absence of “satisfactory and credible evidence from an appropriate source.”
The Department of Education had argued that this second case was different because the tutors involved were not registered teachers.
However, Judge Meenan said there was no basis for this distinction and rejected it.
He said the department’s stated reason for rejecting the calculated ratings was precisely the same in both cases.
He said the system promised “fairness and fairness” to students who do not attend school, but that the applicant’s treatment in this case was “clearly unfair.”
Speaking at the Seanad, Education Minister Normal Foley confirmed that the Department of Education will appeal the Superior Court’s decision regarding Elijah Burke.
He said the appeal would not affect Mr. Burke personally in any way, but would instead focus “on certain legal issues arising from the sentence.”
A spokesman for the department said that the State considered that the court had misinterpreted aspects of the Calculated Ratings process, had taken into consideration points that were not discussed and had not given sufficient consideration to the relevant safeguards that make up the scheme.
The State also believes that the Burke ruling raises “issues of separation of powers.”
Ms. Foley told the Seanad that her department would consider the implications of the latest ruling “urgently.”
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