Education is an essential service and the Government has agreed that it can continue on-site, in line with Safe Return Plan published in June. The Safe Return Plan and the most recent guidance on the current approach advocate and support contingency planning to ensure that institutions remain flexible and adaptable in response to changes in the public health environment.
The Department does not determine sector specific matters at this level and there is no intention to introduce a specific regulation in relation to the holding of in-person examinations in response to COVID 19. However, in order to attenuate concerns and to ascertain planning in relation to the management of terminal examinations, the Minister recently met with management, staff and student representatives and the issue was discussed.
Due to the diversity of our higher education institutions, and the broad range of activities they undertake and the different contexts and requirements applicable to examinations, it was agreed that a uniform or one size fits all approach would not be appropriate across the whole of higher education or indeed the tertiary sector more generally.
In line with the approach taken to date which is based on the premise of institutional discretion and is facilitated by the Safe Return Plan, it was also agreed that the basic principle of risk assessment and the application of appropriate precautionary measures which has enabled and supported the safe return to onsite activities would also apply in this instance.
Management bodies confirmed that they are actively looking at a range of approaches to ensure that end of term examinations will be safe, and that the requirements of students who may have Covid-19 or underlying health conditions can be addressed. It was also pointed out that there are some examinations – such as those related to external accreditation - which are challenging to change to an online format at short notice.
The outcome of the meeting was that individual higher education institutions will assess the appropriate approach to examinations consistent with the outcome of their risk assessments of appropriate approach taking into account the significant contextual factors that arise in different instances. Consistent with the successful operation of the Safe Return Plan, timely engagement and communications with their stakeholders will be essential and all higher education institutions have been encouraged to continue to engage with their students on their arrangements for the end of semester exams.
In all instances public health must remain a priority and I know that there will be a continuing focus on the evolving and often quickly changing public health situation overall.
