Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 8 February 2022
446. Deputy Ivana Bacik asked the Minister for Education the steps her Department will take to support incoming senior cycle students whose education experience at a junior cycle level has been severely disrupted due to the pandemic particularly in the context of their inexperience in sitting State examinations. [6702/22]
View answerI am very aware of the disruption experienced by students as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, including for students who will be due to sit their Leaving Certificate in 2023.
My Department has worked with school management and teachers to put in place a number of measures designed to address the disruption experienced by students during the period of school closures and to ensure continuity of teaching and learning. These include supports to facilitate remote online learning while schools were closed during the early months of 2021. Early provision of Information Communication Technology (ICT) funding to schools, to support the provision of devices to students and families, where needed, was made available.
Additional support for children with Special Educational Needs is also being provided, including under the Covid Learning and Supports Scheme (CLASS) that seeks to mitigate the impact to students’ learning and wellbeing of Covid-19 closures and restrictions. Under the scheme, every school will receive an allocation of additional teaching hours, which they may use in accordance with the needs of their students. This will enable schools to identify students most at risk of learning loss arising from the recent disrupted school experience and put in place specific targeted teaching supports to meet these students’ needs.
My Department and the State Examinations Commission will begin planning for the 2023 state examinations immediately after the 2022 examinations.
