Ó Ríordáin writes to Human Rights Commission over school profiling concerns
Labour Education spokesperson Aodhán Ó Ríordáin has written to the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission on behalf of the Labour Party, calling for it to examine whether disadvantaged schools will be negatively impacted by the use of school profiling in this year’s revised Leaving Cert.
Deputy Ó Ríordáin explained:
“I appreciate the difficulty faced by the Minister for Education in coming up with a suitable alternative for this year’s exam.
“However the Labour Party is extremely concerned that the use of school profiling in the predictive grading process this year will unfairly and negatively impact hard working students from disadvantaged schools.
“I have raised these concerns with the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commissioner and urged him to consider them with a view to making recommendations on the matter.
“This has already happened in the UK in response to the British Government’s proposals for teacher-assessed grades there, so it is not unprecedented.
“For many students, the Leaving Cert will be their only chance to break out of disadvantage, and with the anonymity of the exam now gone, it is fundamentally unfair that students may not be able to realise their full potential because of this year’s arrangements.”
ENDS
A copy of Deputy Ó Ríordáin’s letter can be found here:
https://www.labour.ie/download/pdf/ihrec_letter_re_leaving_cert.pdf