Praise for our young students

Sir, – Amid the distraction of the glorious sunshine (and the desire for ice cream), school summer exams wrap up the year this week for our secondary schools. With one foot out the door already, students in their in-house exams put pen to paper or mouse to screen and complete their summer exams. Our Junior Cycle, Leaving Certificate and Leaving Certificate Applied students have a little further to go because in a nod to Robert Frost, they have promises to keep, and miles to go before they sleep, and miles to go before they sleep.

Indeed, it is worth noting that as well as suffering the collective nationwide effects of the pandemic over the past few years, our current sixth-year students didn’t have the opportunity to sit formal Junior Cycle exams, had a disruptive transition between Junior Cycle and Senior Cycle and are now subject to the full rigours of the State Exams Commission machinery without any previous experience.

We wish these students well and commend them for their fortitude.

Let’s also pay tribute to our teachers, special needs assistants and the staff of our schools who support our students throughout the year. We are grateful for their immense contribution. And indeed to the parents and guardians; while being the primary educators, they are also the unsung heroes of the past few years in our educational landscape. – Yours, etc,