Fianna Fáil has slammed the Minister for Education after he admitted his new plan for the Leaving Cert could be open to legal challenge.
Education Minister Joe McHugh yesterday confirmed that the summer exams would be cancelled, with schools asked to estimate each student’s grades instead.
On The Hard Shoulder however, he admitted that the plan could be challenged in the courts.
Live on #NewstalkBreakfast - With the leaving cert now cancelled & set to be replaced by calculated grades by students’ teachers - @TrishLaverty is joined by @ThomasByrneTD to get his thoughts on the decision.#BKNT pic.twitter.com/ZkIORC7PxO
— Newstalk Breakfast (@BreakfastNT) May 9, 2020
On Newstalk Breakfast with Trish Laverty this morning, the Fianna Fáil education spokesperson Thomas Byrne said it was the first time he had ever seen a minister launch a scheme while admitting it was open to legal challenge.
Teachers unions have been meeting since the announcement was made, with the Teachers Union of Ireland (TUI) agreeing to accept the plan.
The union said it needed clarification on a number of issues and would meet with the Department of Education to make sure it is fair for each student.
The Association of Secondary Teachers in Ireland (ASTI) has yet to reach agreement and is due to meet again today.
TUI to engage with Calculated Grades but system must be fair and equitable and professional integrity of teachers must be protected https://t.co/dtypRp6vaa pic.twitter.com/lLlR8gCt3Z
— Teachers' Union Ire. (@TUIunion) May 9, 2020
TUI President Seamus Lahart said there are a number of issues that need to be clarified.
“We believe that the 61,000 students who would be ready to do the Leaving Cert this year need some means of progression; however, we have a lot of questions to ask and will engage with the department and the State Examinations Commission in the coming week.
“But we will work with this means of allowing the students to progress their careers.”
Fianna Fáil's Thomas Byrne. Picture by: Sam Boal/Rollingnews.ieDeputy Byrne said teachers need to be given time to consider the proposals but he was confident that they will rise to the challenge.
“It is unprecedented and goes against that grain for teachers to be correcting their own students work in terms of their own ethics in terms of how they do their jobs, so this is totally new,” he said.
“We are in a pandemic. I know that teachers have already risen to the challenge of online learning when no national online learning platform has been provided by the State to schools.”
He said he is concerned at reports of parents contacting teachers to vouch for their children in recent days - and called for legislation to protect teachers from undue pressure.
“Teachers feel that they should not take such phone calls and that is why I am saying that legislation should really be there to protect teachers,” he said.
“I think there is absolutely no reason for teachers to [deal with calls like that] and they should not feel any obligation to take those phone calls.
“Clearly, it is also the case that parents should not make those phone calls and put any pressure on. They need to trust the teachers that know their children.”
Under the current plan, students that do not wish to accept the calculated grades will be able to sit the exams at a later date; however, those that choose to do so will not be eligible for college this coming September.
Minister McHugh said the rescheduled exams will be held in the Autumn or "whenever it is safe" for it to happen.
