Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.
You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.
If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.
TEACHER AND PRINCIPAL representatives have called it “unacceptable” and “completely inappropriate” for students and parents to be contacting Leaving Cert teachers to lobby them about the calculated grade.
They suggested in interviews with RTÉ, of putting in place a protocol to log these attempts at lobbying, to ensure fairness and objectivity in Plan C for the Leaving Cert this year.
On Friday, it was announced that the Leaving Cert exams on 29 July would be cancelled, and students would instead receive ‘calculated grades’.
These are calculated through teachers giving their students an assessment score, reviewed by other teachers and the principal, which will then be sent to the Department of Education for ‘national standardisation’.
This is where percentages would be compared with previous years, and this Leaving Cert class’ Junior Cert results, to come up with a final ‘calculated grade’.
If students are unhappy with their grade, and unhappy with their appeal, they will have the option of sitting a written exam later in the year, possibly in November.
U-turn on full marks for orals and practicals
Teachers union ASTI has said that it would be advising its members to “engage” with estimating calculated grades for their students, after the Department of Education confirmed that this would be a once-off system to assess students.
The ASTI has also called on the Department of Education to reinstate full marks for the oral examinations, after a u-turn was made on this decision, and has also asked that students be awarded full marks for practical projects.
Advertisement
This call has been rebutted with the point that if students are given full marks for all orals and practicals, because the Department of Education wouldn’t be able to compare this year’s grades with previous years’ results, which is a necessary part of the grading system.
At 11pm on Friday, the other major teachers’ union, the Teachers’ Union of Ireland (TUI), said that it had “decided to engage with the system of Calculated Grades outlined by the Minister”.
The TUI said that although written exams were “the clear preference” for the union, that this had “proved to be not possible”. It added that students “have a right to advance to the next stage of their lives”, and a mechanism was needed to do so.
After a meeting of the ASTI executive on Friday and at 6pm yesterday, a statement was released after midnight that advised members to engage with the calculated grades system so that students “can progress to the next stage of their lives”.
The ASTI has a policy of teachers not assessing their students for State exams, as it “ensures the integrity of the State Exams process, the value of which is infinitely superior to any other process”.
But, the ASTI also acknowledges that because of the Covid-19 pandemic, it “recognises that this year it is necessary to engage with this new process”.
The ASTI has secured confirmation from the Department and the Minister that these measures are being implemented on an emergency basis and will not be regarded as a precedent or an agreement to operate this process in future years.
Despite this, the union still has “a number of major concerns” with the process which it is calling on the Minister for Education and Skills to address as a matter of urgency.
These concerns are:
The u-turn on full marks for oral and some practical exams: Students had been given full marks for all oral and music practicals, but on Friday, this decision was reversed, and teachers now have to estimate what mark the students would have received. The ASTI also wants full marks awarded to all practical projects.
The data to be relied upon by teachers: This relates to what classwork teachers should use to assess students. The ASTI said it would be “raising these matters at the earliest opportunity” with the Department of Education.
Fairness and objectivity: The ASTI says it has concerns about the “equity and perceived objectivity” for students as well as concerns about “the professional integrity” of teachers and school leaders.
Following yesterday’s meeting, ASTI president Deirdre Mac Donald said that these were “extraordinary times”.
“This has been a difficult year for our Leaving Cert students and we are very aware of the stress they have endured to date due to this pandemic.
The process outlined by the Minister is far from ideal.
However, we will be striving to improve the process in order to deliver fairness, objectivity, and equity for all students and protect the professional integrity of teachers.
Related Reads
Why was the 29 July date cancelled? When will results be out? Questions about the new Leaving Cert plan answered
'It's not a perfect solution': The government's u-turn on holding Leaving Certificate exams
Leaving Cert: Here are the details of the new plan announced by the government
Teachers being lobbied
Speaking on RTÉ Radio One’s This Week programme, McDonald said that it is “just unacceptable” that teachers would be lobbied by parents and students.
The fact is that we would have to put in place a protocol around that. The integrity of the system depends on an impartial system being put in place. So, a lobbying protocol will most certainly have been put in place immediately.
Clive Byrne, president of the National Association of Principals and Deputy Principals, said that as part of that protocol, it should be “necessary” should be a written note to say if and when a teacher is contacted by a student or parent.
“If somebody is contacted by student or parent and asked in relation to canvassing or grade or other things like that, a written record should be kept.
“And that must be taken on board when the teachers are making their grades and their rankings with the principal.”
He said that lobbying for grades or canvassing “would be completely inappropriate”.
The ASTI said it will be seeking a number of clarifications from the Department of Education and Skills in relation to its concerns. The TUI has also said that it requires clarifications from the Department about the process.
This afternoon, the TUI joined the call for safeguards to protect teachers from any lobbying.
“A protocol that protects teachers from any form of lobbying or canvassing in relation to their role in terms of the system of calculated grades must immediately be introduced by the Department of Education and Skills. The professional integrity and independence of teachers must be protected,” TUI President Seamus Lahart said.
Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone...
A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article.
Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Close
92 Comments
This is YOUR comments community. Stay civil, stay constructive, stay on topic.
Please familiarise yourself with our comments policy
here
before taking part.
Don't forget! The clocks go forward by an hour tonight
51 mins ago
2.0k
24
ekrem imamoglu
Thousands take to streets of Istanbul to protest over mayor’s arrest
1 hr ago
1.0k
12
arctic reception
JD Vance says US take over of Greenland ‘makes sense’ during scaled back visit
Updated
23 hrs ago
56.7k
150
Your Cookies. Your Choice.
Cookies help provide our news service while also enabling the advertising needed to fund this work.
We categorise cookies as Necessary, Performance (used to analyse the site performance) and Targeting (used to target advertising which helps us keep this service free).
We and our 161 partners store and access personal data, like browsing data or unique identifiers, on your device. Selecting Accept All enables tracking technologies to support the purposes shown under we and our partners process data to provide. If trackers are disabled, some content and ads you see may not be as relevant to you. You can resurface this menu to change your choices or withdraw consent at any time by clicking the Cookie Preferences link on the bottom of the webpage .Your choices will have effect within our Website. For more details, refer to our Privacy Policy.
We and our vendors process data for the following purposes:
Use precise geolocation data. Actively scan device characteristics for identification. Store and/or access information on a device. Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services development.
Cookies Preference Centre
We process your data to deliver content or advertisements and measure the delivery of such content or advertisements to extract insights about our website. We share this information with our partners on the basis of consent. You may exercise your right to consent, based on a specific purpose below or at a partner level in the link under each purpose. Some vendors may process your data based on their legitimate interests, which does not require your consent. You cannot object to tracking technologies placed to ensure security, prevent fraud, fix errors, or deliver and present advertising and content, and precise geolocation data and active scanning of device characteristics for identification may be used to support this purpose. This exception does not apply to targeted advertising. These choices will be signaled to our vendors participating in the Transparency and Consent Framework.
Manage Consent Preferences
Necessary Cookies
Always Active
These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work.
Targeting Cookies
These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.
Functional Cookies
These cookies enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and personalisation. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies then these services may not function properly.
Performance Cookies
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we will not be able to monitor our performance.
Store and/or access information on a device 110 partners can use this purpose
Cookies, device or similar online identifiers (e.g. login-based identifiers, randomly assigned identifiers, network based identifiers) together with other information (e.g. browser type and information, language, screen size, supported technologies etc.) can be stored or read on your device to recognise it each time it connects to an app or to a website, for one or several of the purposes presented here.
Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services development 143 partners can use this purpose
Use limited data to select advertising 113 partners can use this purpose
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times an ad is presented to you).
Create profiles for personalised advertising 83 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service (such as forms you submit, content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (for example, information from your previous activity on this service and other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (that might include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present advertising that appears more relevant based on your possible interests by this and other entities.
Use profiles to select personalised advertising 83 partners can use this purpose
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on your advertising profiles, which can reflect your activity on this service or other websites or apps (like the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects.
Create profiles to personalise content 39 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service (for instance, forms you submit, non-advertising content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (such as your previous activity on this service or other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (which might for example include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present content that appears more relevant based on your possible interests, such as by adapting the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find content that matches your interests.
Use profiles to select personalised content 35 partners can use this purpose
Content presented to you on this service can be based on your content personalisation profiles, which can reflect your activity on this or other services (for instance, the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects. This can for example be used to adapt the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find (non-advertising) content that matches your interests.
Measure advertising performance 134 partners can use this purpose
Information regarding which advertising is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine how well an advert has worked for you or other users and whether the goals of the advertising were reached. For instance, whether you saw an ad, whether you clicked on it, whether it led you to buy a product or visit a website, etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of advertising campaigns.
Measure content performance 61 partners can use this purpose
Information regarding which content is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine whether the (non-advertising) content e.g. reached its intended audience and matched your interests. For instance, whether you read an article, watch a video, listen to a podcast or look at a product description, how long you spent on this service and the web pages you visit etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of (non-advertising) content that is shown to you.
Understand audiences through statistics or combinations of data from different sources 74 partners can use this purpose
Reports can be generated based on the combination of data sets (like user profiles, statistics, market research, analytics data) regarding your interactions and those of other users with advertising or (non-advertising) content to identify common characteristics (for instance, to determine which target audiences are more receptive to an ad campaign or to certain contents).
Develop and improve services 83 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service, such as your interaction with ads or content, can be very helpful to improve products and services and to build new products and services based on user interactions, the type of audience, etc. This specific purpose does not include the development or improvement of user profiles and identifiers.
Use limited data to select content 37 partners can use this purpose
Content presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type, or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times a video or an article is presented to you).
Use precise geolocation data 46 partners can use this special feature
With your acceptance, your precise location (within a radius of less than 500 metres) may be used in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Actively scan device characteristics for identification 27 partners can use this special feature
With your acceptance, certain characteristics specific to your device might be requested and used to distinguish it from other devices (such as the installed fonts or plugins, the resolution of your screen) in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Ensure security, prevent and detect fraud, and fix errors 92 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
Your data can be used to monitor for and prevent unusual and possibly fraudulent activity (for example, regarding advertising, ad clicks by bots), and ensure systems and processes work properly and securely. It can also be used to correct any problems you, the publisher or the advertiser may encounter in the delivery of content and ads and in your interaction with them.
Deliver and present advertising and content 99 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
Certain information (like an IP address or device capabilities) is used to ensure the technical compatibility of the content or advertising, and to facilitate the transmission of the content or ad to your device.
Match and combine data from other data sources 72 partners can use this feature
Always Active
Information about your activity on this service may be matched and combined with other information relating to you and originating from various sources (for instance your activity on a separate online service, your use of a loyalty card in-store, or your answers to a survey), in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Link different devices 53 partners can use this feature
Always Active
In support of the purposes explained in this notice, your device might be considered as likely linked to other devices that belong to you or your household (for instance because you are logged in to the same service on both your phone and your computer, or because you may use the same Internet connection on both devices).
Identify devices based on information transmitted automatically 88 partners can use this feature
Always Active
Your device might be distinguished from other devices based on information it automatically sends when accessing the Internet (for instance, the IP address of your Internet connection or the type of browser you are using) in support of the purposes exposed in this notice.
Save and communicate privacy choices 69 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
The choices you make regarding the purposes and entities listed in this notice are saved and made available to those entities in the form of digital signals (such as a string of characters). This is necessary in order to enable both this service and those entities to respect such choices.
have your say