Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 22 September 2020
480. Deputy Louise O'Reilly asked the Minister for Education if there will be a bespoke plan including the option to receive predicted grades for current sixth years that have started their final year in abnormal conditions and after losing much on-site education time from their fifth year. [25459/20]
View answerOn 21 August, I announced a series of changes that would be made to assessment arrangements for both Junior Cycle and Leaving Certificate examinations for 2021. This announcement was accompanied by a published document detailing these changes, Assessment Arrangements for Junior Cycle and Leaving Certificate Examinations 2021, and forms part of the Roadmap for the Full Return to School.
These arrangements are designed to take account of the disrupted learning experienced by students during the 2019/20 school year and to factor in for some further possible loss of learning time in the 2020/21 school year as a contingency measure. As the loss of learning through school closures willhave affected students’ engagement with their course of study in different ways, the adjustments put in place will play to students’ strengths by leaving intact the familiar overall structure of the examinations, while incorporating additional choice. The adjustments have been arrived at through discussions between my Department, the State Examinations Commission (SEC) and the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) and key stakeholders. Additionally, briefs for coursework for subjects, including practical subjects, will be issued at least a month earlier in the school year to provide certainty for students.
These changes to the national assessment arrangements have been made with due regard for the principles of equity, fairness and integrity, as these principles apply to assessment and examinations and refer to student to-student, subject-to-subject, and year-to-year comparisons. The changes provide reassurance to students, their parents/guardians, teachers and schools.
Other documents published by my Department to support the return to school include Guidance for Practical Subjects in Post-Primary Schools and Centres for Education and Returning to school: Guidance on learning and school programmes for post primary school leaders and teachers. All documentation published is available on www.gov.ie/backtoschool .
The SEC has statutory responsibility for operational matters relating to the certificate examinations. The SEC intends to operate the 2021 examinations as normal, with appropriate contingency built in, in line with prevailing public health advice. There will be no change to the length of the written examinations. For subjects where the SEC issues project briefs during the 2020/21 school year, the intention is to generally issue these at least four weeks earlier than normal. For subjects with course work completion dates typically late in the school year, schools will be asked to submit this coursework two weeks earlier than normal as a contingency measure. In this context teachers are being encouraged to plan and undertake these projects as early as possible in the programme of study.
