Minister needs to address the case of Leaving Cert students who may not be eligible for predicted grades
The Minister for Education needs to address the case of Leaving Cert students who may be ineligible for predicted grades because they are self-taught according to Labour Education Spokesperson Aodhán Ó Ríordáin.
Ó Ríordáin has pledged to raise a case of a student from Waterford who is not eligible for a predicted grade for one of the seven subjects he studied because he taught himself.
Deputy Ó Ríordáin said:
“I spoke to the students mother Alex Robertson and to Labour Councillor John Pratt, who are very concerned about the implications of this refusal. The new Minister cannot stand idly by and must address this and other shortcomings with the new system. This is one of several issues with predicted grading, which include concerns I have previously raised around school profiling and the legality of the system.
“Students often teach themselves, if certain subjects or a subject level aren’t available in their school. However, under the predicted grading system these students may be ineligible to receive a predicted grade as their studies will not have been overseen by a suitably qualified tutor and taking a pre-Leaving Certificate exam is not seen as sufficient evidence to award a predicted grade.
“The rash decision to cancel the Leaving Cert and replace with a system of predictive grading has created uncertainty for many students like Finn Robertson who without a predicted grade or Leaving Cert result in politics will be unable to fulfil the requirements for his chosen third level course.
Ó Ríordáin continued:
“This is unacceptable and could have devastating consequences for many students. I will be asking Minister Foley to address this in order to end the uncertainty for Finn and other students in similar situations.