Social Democrats TD Gary Gannon has called for the new phase of planning for the State examinations to be expedited to end the ongoing uncertainty for Leaving Certificate students.<\/p>\n
Minister Foley today confirmed that a new phase of planning would include both the provision of Leaving Certificate examinations while also exploring a corresponding non-examination process.<\/p>\n
Commenting, Deputy Gannon, who is the party\u2019s spokesperson for Education, said:<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s welcome that the Minister is finally listening to the representations\u00a0of students and their calls for a hybrid\u00a0model when it comes to the 2021 examinations. However, the Department must work extremely quickly to ensure that both modes of assessment \u2013 the Leaving Certificate written examinations and the corresponding measure \u2013 reach the appropriate\u00a0standard required to assess our students.<\/p>\n
\u201cNeither last year’s predictive grades model nor the traditional\u00a0Leaving Certificate\u00a0examinations can be used without extreme\u00a0modification and this needs to be communicated and clarified\u00a0with students and schools quickly. It is vital that everybody knows what they are working towards \u2013 and the clock is ticking.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe must ensure that either mode of assessment does not disadvantage or disfranchise our most vulnerable students. Representatives from Higher and Further\u00a0Education also need to be included extensively in these conversations about assessments.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt’s concerning that Junior Certificate and Leaving Cert Applied students are still in the dark as to what arrangements will be put in place for them.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is regrettable that this situation was not avoided by contingency or alternative plans being put in place earlier by the Department of Education.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Department must now put the wellbeing and needs of the students ahead of everything else by reaching a workable solution in the shortest possible timeframe. While any progress is welcome, it is important that we do not lose momentum at this crucial juncture.\u201d<\/p>\n
February 5, 2021<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Social Democrats TD Gary Gannon has called for the new phase of planning for the State examinations to be expedited to end the ongoing uncertainty for Leaving Certificate students. Minister Foley today confirmed that a new phase of planning would include both the provision of Leaving Certificate examinations while also exploring a corresponding non-examination process. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1064,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[316,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1442","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gary-gannon","category-press-release"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n