A second-round of Leaving Cert examinations will take place 'almost immediately' after the first exams as a contingency for those who have to miss their first examinations, Minister Norma Foley has today confirmed to Beat News.
The second round of exams will be in 'limited circumstances' for those who are suffering through a bereavement ahead of their exams, or fall sick before the exams.
There has been concern among the student body about the decision to return to written exams, with COVID case numbers still high, and questions surrounding the reporting of clusters in schools across the country.
"If there's a medical need - as defined by medical practitioners - that will happen, and equally so if there's an incident of COVID, that will happen" Minister Foley told Beat News on a visit to St Declan's Community College in Kilmacthomas today. One of four schools the Minister visited in the Déise this morning and afternoon (February 11th).
"So it's a limited circumstance, but it is making the opportunity available to those - through no fault for their - find themselves in a circumstance of that nature."
The exact details of the new set of exams, or whether they will follow the same timetables as the original exams is still yet to be known.
The Minister for Education has also refuted claims that students were ignored in the decision for written Leaving Certificate exams.
Speaking in Waterford today, the Minister said a hybrid model wasn't possible, with 1 in 4 students having not sat their Junior Cert.
The President of the Irish Secondary Students Union says their concerns were 'ignored' by the Government.
However Minister Foley told Beat News that claim is incorrect:
"That isn't true, superficially in relation specifically to this issue around the Leaving Certificate. I met with all of the partners around the table, including the students.
Then by the agreement of the partners around the table, I met with each group individually - including the students on a one-to-one basis - and then I followed up with calls to each of the representative bodies, including the students. So they were very much included."
