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Not that anyone cares about my opinion of the Leaving Cert but thought I& #39;d share my current thinking on it. Longer thread then I started out with. Point 2 and 13 & 14 are my main ones. Rest is a bit of brain thoughts appearing as tweets.
1) Clearly the exams won& #39;t happen if it is not safe to do so. I think it is okay to delay the exams until late July. I would like to assume a robust Plan B is being worked on as well. We have lost 3 weeks but I think that is okay if waiting to decide on the best thing to do
2) Every June and August we cry out that the Leaving Cert is not a life defining moment and if you don& #39;t to get your first choice then there are always other options. Why is this not being discussed more now? What ever happens there are so many options available.
3) I recognise the traditional Leaving Cert is not everyone& #39;s cup of tea but I don& #39;t think this is the time to talk or look for Senior Cycle Reform. Is it needed? Probably. Will enough collaboration and consultation happen before it will be introduced. No probably not.
4) I struggle to see why clarity is needed all the time. Are we not reacting to the Covid19 cases as they are happening and adjusting as we go? I don& #39;t know, I feel that we have to wait for trends to appear before we decide on actions.
5) I know some students feel their concerns are not being heard. We have to recognise that there are some who want predicted grades, some want it cancelled and others want to plough on. Getting the right information to students about pros and cons of each proposal is key
6) Teaching in the summer. More than happy to do it. As I know many many teachers are. We want to step up and we want be counted. Each and every teacher wants their students to be successful. A global pandemic will not change that.
7) I have no experience in the myriad of factors involved with postprimary education transitioning to 3rd level and/or how best to accredit postprimary education. I suspect most students and teachers dont know either. I am happy to leave it to the powers that be we work out a way
8) I don& #39;t expect that the powers that be we asked in their job interviews "how would you manage a state exam process during a global pandemic 4 months out?" I imagine they are also under a huge amount of stress too. I am not envious of their position. No WHO equiv to advise them
9) This sounds silly but how are the class of & #39;19 finding their summer exams? Or how are final year students managing their thesis or portfolios? How are PhD students getting on mid research? Will 6th class see their classmates again? This is messing up more than just the LC
10) The media over hype the Leaving Cert on a good year and I feel they need to let the dust settle for a tad until we work out what is best. Speculation rarely helps anyone
11) If I could speak to myself 10 years ago I& #39;d tell myself that not getting your first choice worked out fine. In fact your second choice didn& #39;t fully work out either but you end up using it for a master which so far has worked out but who knows.
12) As I tell every 6th year now. It will be grand. Life is never fair. If this crisis throws your ideal plan off a year so be it. The exams are important but definitely not life defining. Do what study you can but certainly dont over do it. It never was or never will be defining
13) I had a student tell me that they may fall behind in school work as they wanted to spend time with family and help out their local community. That is what prompted this. Bigger things going on than the LC so what ever is decided and what ever happens...
education is not the most important thing now during this global pandemic. Staying safe and making sure we hammer down that curve down should be society& #39;s primary concern and after we will all work together to rectify the consequences of all this for students.
14) I feel we need to take the heat out of the Leaving Certificate 2020. Students will always be stressed about the Leaving, and that is not necessarily a bad thing, but the way society throws it into a pressure cooker is wrong.
