Cabinet to make final decision on format of Leaving Cert exams next week Government hopes to have all schools open by the end of March, depending Covid numbers
Mon, Feb 1, 2021, 15:49 Updated: Mon, Feb 1, 2021, 20:09
The Cabinet will next week make a final decision on the format of this year’s Leaving Certificate exams with a number of options still under consideration.
Government Ministers and officials met on Monday to discuss the status of this year’s Leaving Cert and potential options for the State exam.
Senior sources believe it will not be possible to have a “traditional Leaving Cert at the traditional time”.
Special school teachers have been offered extra State subsidies for childcare costs and flexibility on leave under a Government deal aimed at getting vulnerable children back to school this week.
Pressure is growing on Education Minster Norma Foley to consider an alternative to the traditional Leaving Cert.
Several TDs raised the issue with the minister in the Dáil yesterday, with some supporting a return to calculated grades or a “hybrid model”, and all seeking an early decision on the fate of the exams.
A survey by more than 20,000 members of the Irish Second-Level Students Union (ISSU) is expected to show an appetite for change from normal arrangements.
The findings are due to be released over the weekend but ISSU president Reuban Murray last night gave a clear indication of the mood .
Given the week we’ve just witnessed, you might have missed the fact that many of the country’s secondary school teachers effectively went on strike last Thursday. Their union, the Association of