There’s a call for Leaving Cert students to be given “greater choice” on their exam papers due to the impact of the coronavirus crisis on the State exams.
A former headmaster says additional options for students could be the "only way to mitigate" the impact of some courses not being completed as normal.
Last week, it was confirmed that the Leaving Cert will be postponed until late July or August due to the impact of the COVID-19 restrictions and ongoing school closures.
It is now being reported that the exams could run into early September.
According to The Irish Times, there may only be a single exam each day as part of efforts to minimise public health risks.
Arthur Godsil, former headmaster of St Andrew’s College Dublin and Director of Godsil Education, spoke to Newstalk Breakfast about the situation Leaving Cert students currently find themselves.
He said: “I think we all knew from the very beginning that the exams couldn’t go ahead as originally planned.
“I think the elongation of the exams will cause further stress for some students, [while] for others it might provide them with increased study time between exams."
Mr Godsil noted that the Department of Education is typically “really very good at taking into consideration the difficulties of students”, saying he has no doubt that will the case this year as well.
However, he also observed: “One of my concerns is that the online preparation to date may not be uniform across the country - this will result in some courses not being completed [due to] broadband, limited access to devices, individual schools’ responses and so on.
“I think the only way to mitigate these difficulties is to provide greater choice on the papers themselves - papers probably don’t need to be changed, but perhaps the instructions [do].”
A new timetable for the Leaving Cert exams is set to be confirmed by early June.
