Mixed reaction to Leaving Cert 2022 plans in Cork

THERE was a mixed reaction from principals and students in Cork today following confirmation from the Minister for Education Norma Foley that the traditional format of Leaving Cert exams will take place this year. The Minister also confirmed that Junior Cycle exams will also take place for the first time since 2019.

Leaving Cert students will sit a written exam this summer, with the Minister saying that the overall set of results in 2022 will be no lower than in 2021, ensuring that the class of 2022 will not be disadvantaged. 

Ms Foley said the exams will have ‘considerable choice’ on the paper. 

“There will now be a considerable choice on the paper and less content to be studied. The alterations on the exams extend into the oral, the practical, and coursework.” 

The plans received a broad welcome from Cork principals who spoke to the Echo with Bandon Grammar school principal Ian Coombes saying the decision is the ‘fairest’ outcome for students. 

“We feel this is the fairest outcome because there are amendments to papers and it will also reduce the inflation in the points which will reduce some stress for the students.”

Mr Coombes said the decision was timely, but, looking to the future, there is a need to reform the Leaving Certificate exams.

“Students were worried and we are starting our mocks next week. They now know what is ahead of them,” he said.

Coláiste Éamann Rís principal Aaron Wolfe said the decision brings clarity.

“The Leaving Cert is the only game in town. A decision has been made now which is welcome. The exam is a secure choice,” he said.

“We have seen grade inflation with accredited grades. It brings clarity and certainty which is good news for students. We can now plough on with preparing the students for the Leaving Cert.”

The principal of Nagle Community College, Jim O’Sullivan, said there was a mixed response among his students.

“There are mixed feelings among students, with many relishing the opportunity to sit the State examinations while others are understandably concerned having faced the unique challenges of the past two years.

“The decision is now made and we will do everything we can to support the students and continue to work to mitigate against these unprecedented challenges,” he added.

Student response

There was a mixed reaction, too, from Leaving Cert students at Coláiste an Chroí Naofa, Carrignavar, to the news that this year’s Leaving Cert exams will be held as exams only.

Stephen Whooley said he would have preferred a hybrid approach.

“I would have preferred the hybrid approach where you had the predicted grades, but also the option to sit the tests. This system works out less stressful as you can sit the test and get a good result, but you also have the backup of the predicted grades.”

The student also said the decision took too long to be made.

“I feel that we should have got this decision at the start of the year. It took too long for them to make this decision. Going into this year I felt we should have known what was actually happening with the Leaving Cert,” said Stephen.

Fellow student, Grace Doran, echoed his sentiments with regard to the hybrid approach.

“I would have preferred a hybrid approach and this would have been more beneficial due to the time we missed over recent years,” she said.

Grace also said the decision has come very late in the academic calendar. “It is a very late decision as our mocks are coming up so soon. It took them a long time to reach this decision. Clarity and a decision should have been made weeks if not months ago. It has been very stressful not knowing what this year’s Leaving Cert format would be.”

Fellow Leaving Cert student Brendan Quain said he was “disappointed” with Ms Foley’s decision.

“I don’t think this decision is the best one for students. We just want to do the best we can. I am a bit disappointed with the decision.

“This decision could easily have been made a few months ago. The whole situation was not handled well at all. We have missed out on a lot of in-class teaching and the hybrid approach would have been the fairest solution for all,” he added.

Political reaction

The decision was met with criticism from opposition politicians.

Sinn Féin education spokesman Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire said he was deeply disappointed with the decision by Ms Foley.

“Students are frustrated the department hasn’t listened and understood the disruptions they have faced. They are also frustrated at the lack of imagination. There seems to be a determination to proceed with a traditional type of exam even though it has been far from a traditional type of year,” he said.

Social Democrats TD for Cork South West, Holly Cairns said the decision not to proceed with a hybrid Leaving Cert is a “crushing blow” and goes against the wishes of students.

“This year is not a normal year, so we cannot have a ‘normal’ Leaving Cert. It is a crushing blow, for these students and their families, that the minister has failed to accede to their reasonable requests to have a hybrid Leaving Cert. The minister must reverse this callous decision,” she said.

Socialist Party TD for Cork North Central Mick Barry said the Government’s decision on the Leaving Cert represents a “betrayal” of young people.

Mr Barry said: “The Government has decided to drive on with plans for a traditional Leaving Cert.”

Cork East Labour TD Seán Sherlock said the decision is a squandered opportunity.

“The fact that the government has now taken a decision to go back to the old-style Leaving Cert signals, to me, a Government that is very conservative, and it was a squandered opportunity. We need reform of the Leaving Cert. The hybrid model, though not perfect, was at least an attempt to progress education.”

Taoiseach speaks out

However, Taoiseach Micheál Martin defended the decision and said an accredited grades system could not have been applied fairly because one out of four students did not do the Junior Certificate.

“Their data would not have been available for an accredited grades alternative,” Mr Martin said.

“I haven’t seen anybody put forward an alternative to that in any meaningful way.

“The minister has now opted to give a very, very wide choice in the written examinations to such an extent that most papers will have content cut by a third.

“Students should look to the paper of 2021 in terms of a guide and also there will be full details in terms of syllabus and so on published in the coming days.”

He said this year’s Leaving Cert will be “dramatically different” and will represent a “dramatically widening” of choice compared to 2019 and 2018 exam papers.

“These significant changes will help students to take account of what has been a very challenging two years,” added the Fianna Fáil leader.

Union reaction

Meanwhile, Eamon Dennehy, president of the Association of Secondary Teachers in Ireland (ASTI), said the announcement gives clarity to students and teachers.

“Students and their teachers can now have the confidence that the exams will be fair and transparent and will take into account the unique circumstances of the Leaving Cert 2022 cohort.”

The Teachers’ Union of Ireland (TUI) also welcomed the certainty provided to students by the announcement, while a spokesperson for the National Association for Principals & Deputy Principals said: “The NAPD welcomes the additional changes made to the Leaving Certificate 2022, giving greater exam choice to students, and amending the marking schemes to reduce the stress of this year’s Leaving Certificate students.”