My Department already operate a scheme whereby a reduction in examination entry fees may be allowed in cases of particular hardship. The amount of the reduction in the case of a necessitous pupil is determined at the discretion of the school authorities, subject to the total amount of such reductions not exceeding the maximum specified by my Department.
For the purposes of the scheme a necessitous pupil is defined as a child from a home where genuine hardship exists because of unemployment, prolonged illness of parent, large family with inadequate means, single parent, more than one child from the same family doing the certificate examinations, or other circumstances that would connote a similar degree of domestic financial hardship.