Mary O’Rourke: We should retain the best of this year’s hybrid Leaving Cert

It’s September, the sun is shining, schools are open and schoolchildren have settled back after the summer holidays. It is as predictable as anything you could wish for.

It's easy to return to the hurly-burly of school and all of the attendant triumphs and miseries, Leaving Cert results, CAO offers. Before we do do, there are some lessons that the pandemic has laid out for all of us. I have been thinking about that.

I am writing this from the experience of having spent almost five years as Minister for Education, way back, and the experience now of having two grandchildren doing Leaving Cert, so I’m an all-rounder, so to speak.

My first observation is that the Department of Education can move, and move swiftly. It has always had the name of being slow to respond, careful in its operations and so on, as would befit any department. But when it needed to do so during the worst of the pandemic period, it moved quickly.

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From my own observation, I’ve noted that having the hybrid Leaving Cert with the choice for students of either sitting traditional written exams or going by the accredited grades, lifted the dread and apprehension which was infecting so many Leaving Cert students.

The Irish Second Level Students’ Union (ISSU) looked for clarity and compassion from the Minister and here, in this hybrid Leaving Cert, they got both. The ISSU had asked to be included in the ongoing deliberations, and they were. This should be continued. After all, they are the people who stand to be affected by whatever discussions are upcoming. So there was greater choice and greater time to do the written examination, and that was definitely a help.

It is clear that the hybrid system won’t continue as we, hopefully, reach calmer waters. But are there elements of it that can be garnered now and used to good effect in the formulation of changes to the Leaving Cert? I think the ongoing assessment by teachers on a very regular basis was clearly a welcome development, and the students themselves felt reassured by the regularity and the results of having such ongoing assessment. I think this should be extensively formalised countrywide for the Leaving Cert year. Are there any other elements of this Leaving Cert system that can be salvaged and made mainstream?

On the landscape of schools, there was an outstanding matter which time and again showed to us all the competency of principals, whether this was answering media questions in a small primary school in Kerry or likewise coping with ongoing questions in a large bustling city primary or secondary school.

The principal of the day provided that sense of competency and ability to get on with it. Yes, they were welcoming the pupils back and yes, there were still lots of things that could be done, but in the meantime schools were open and teaching could continue.

The priority must be to address the troubles that linger in children's minds from the long pauses and abstentions from school life during 2020-21

So far so good, looking back. But there is another huge educational difficulty and deficit which I believe the Minister intends to address but has not yet done so. The recent publication by the Ombudsman for Children, Dr Niall Muldoon, is headed "2020 Childhood Paused". In it, he vividly depicts the huge gaps in schooling for younger children during the past 12 months. There is no doubt that there is a lot of catch-up to be done for these young pupils. I hope that, without much ado, the Minister will bring forward her ideas as to how this can be achieved, in order that the young people who, through no fault of their own, have felt strongly the gaps in their childhood years will have their fears and deep-set worries alleviated.

I have read the Ombudsman’s report carefully and there is no doubt in my mind that there is much work to be done to address and fill the gaps, hopefully based on the next school year. The number of children contacting the Ombudsman’s office last year showed a huge increase on the year before. Dr Muldoon’s report highlights the effect of the past year on children’s mental health and whilst the report is detailed in its analysis there are, as yet, no ideas put forward as to the remedying of these cries for help. The priority must be to address the troubles that linger in children’s minds from the long pauses and abstentions from school life during 2020-21.

I know the Minister intends to address this and I look forward to her response to this dilemma.

We're just had the Leaving Cert results, CAO and further education offers. Simon Harris, the Minister for Further and Higher Education, has a lot on his desk, but I am sure he will come forward with helpful solutions to the post-Leaving Cert situation as the days go on. Over to you Simon.