The Department of Education has asked school authorities to refrain from imposing harsh sanctions on pupils who refuse to wear their school uniform during State exams.
It was open to schools to "require" pupils to wear uniforms during exams, but they should be restrained in how they deal with pupils who fail to comply.
"It is important that schools keep in mind the need for proportionality in their response to such non-compliance," the department said. "The examinations need to be conducted in a calm atmosphere conducive to the well-being of students and schools should be very conscious of this fact in responding to any breach of school regulations during this period." The wearing of uniforms at second-level schools has been a contentious area for several years. Many Leaving Certificate candidates consider they have left the school when the academic year ends and refuse to wear uniforms during State examinations. Some schools do not require pupils to wear uniforms, while others adopt a flexible approach.
The department said excluding a pupil from an examination centre for not wearing a uniform on the first occasion "would be a disproportionate response", particularly where the candidate had no alternative centre to sit the exam. "It is suggested that a student who breaches the school's disciplinary code should be allowed to sit the examination on the occasion of the first breach," the department said. After the first breach, the parents of the student should be contacted.
If there was a second breach, the department advised that in the interests of wider school discipline, the candidate should sit the examination in an alternative centre. The interests of individual candidates must be balanced "against the overriding need to secure the well-being of the general body of examination candidates".