Students who Sit the Leaving Cert will not Gain Entry into Universities this Year
Aontú Leader Peadar Tóibín TD has stated that “Its significant that the actual Leaving Cert won’t be held until November now. This means that the results will not be available until the New Year. Consequently those who choose that route will miss College and University completely this year. This is a significant penalty for those who feel that they have not been treated fairly”.
“Given the numbers involved and the number of classrooms in schools it should be absolutely possible to allow students who seek to sit the Leaving Cert to do so in advance of College Courses being offered. We must inject some level of practicality into this”.
“Also of concern, will teachers, principals and schools be indemnified against legal action? The pressure on teachers will be significant but there cannot be an exposure for the teacher or schools if legal action action is threatened”.
“Many questions still need to be answered about school profiling and to what extent an individual will be able to gain a result well outside of the schools previous average. Profiling of any sort can mean that people are placed into boxes that they affect their outcomes. Education should be about giving students the opportunity to break out of those boxes. It should not equate to any level of discrimination against a particular child.
Also we are not confident that the necessary human and financial resources in place to ensure that this happens in a timely fashion.
