Addressing his fellow public representatives at the monthly meeting of Westmeath County Council, Fianna Fáil Councillor, Frankie Keena, called upon the local authority executive to recognise the stress, uncertainty and worry of the Leaving Certificate Class of 2020 and discuss possible options of assisting these students pursue their chosen career this autumn, where some may want to attend third level education, while others follow the apprenticeship of their choice.
“The effects of the COVID-19 virus and lockdown has impacted upon every sector of our community, most notably the Leaving Certificate Class of 2020 who have been seriously discommoded by this persistent pandemic.
“Over the last number of months, they have endured emotional upheaval unsure as to whether the Leaving Certificate examination would proceed and at the same time maintaining a focus on their studies.
“A final decision was made to cancel the exams and for the schools to undertake a calculating grading system of each Leaving Cert student in conjunction with the Department. There are mixed emotions on this from the student population and indeed parents which are well documented.
“Calculated grade results comes from the combination of two data sets, firstly, a school-based estimation of an overall percentage mark and class ranking, to be awarded to a student in a particular subject and the second from the Department of Education and Skills which includes data on the past performances of students in each school, the ‘famous bell curve’.
“I commend the work undertaken by teachers and principals of the schools who were handed this difficult task and duly complied within a short timeframe under guidelines from the Department. These grades will be forwarded to the students in due course.
At this stage I am very strong in my belief that every effort needs to be made to assist the Leaving Certificate Class of 2020 pursue their chosen career this autumn. Some may want to attend third level education and others may want to follow the apprenticeship of their choice. They have been exposed to motions varying from stress, worry, uncertainty, some joy and others annoyance.
As we go through these unprecedented times, I am calling on this Council to support me in requesting the Minister and the Department to allow these students access to their career choice as much as possible after their grades are made available.
“Perhaps this could be done by reviewing the CAO points system or through some other route to allow them admittance into third level education or apprenticeship of their choice.
This action will also bring some certainty on numbers enrolling in third level sectors as they look to secure registrations due to their fear that there may be a shortage of foreign students coming to Ireland for such purposes this semester due to COVID-19.
In addition to this, I am very conscious that there may be a large number of possible appeals and worse still, legal cases, brought forward by students if they are not satisfied with the grades they receive. I know there is an option for the student to sit the Leaving Certificate at another time but at this stage there is no clear direction on this for the students.
“As a Council I believe that we should mitigate against such an occurrence and more importantly, assist these young adults pursue the career of their choice to give them the opportunity to move to the next chapter of their lives during these difficult times. Over the last number of months we have seen rules and regulations across all sectors of society been changed due to the impact from the COVID-19 pandemic. The same actions should be carried out for the Leaving Certificate Class of 2020.
“In conclusion, I feel that the concept of ‘First Choice for All’ should be accommodated as much as possible,” Cllr. Keena asserted.
