Minister aiming to hold deferred Leaving Cert exams from July 29
The postponed Leaving Cert exams are expected to begin on Wednesday July 29, according to the Minister for Education.
Previously the deferred exams were signalled to begin either the last week of July or the beginning of August.
In an Instagram Live Question and Answer session this evening hosted by SpunOut.ie, Joe McHugh, the Minister for Education, said each decision made about the exams would be based on the most up-to-date public health advice.
“We could be faced with enormous challenges in a couple of months' time that we’re not in a position to make predictions on now,” he told students.
When asked why there was so much uncertainty about when the exams will start, Mr McHugh said the Department of Education wanted to be careful around announcing a date.
“We wanted to think about the timing, we wanted to get agreement from all the stakeholders, particularly the teachers and students.”
“I will be in a position in a couple of days to confirm that date but the date [if young people are going to be] looking at where you are going to be starting, the date that we are going to be looking at is that Wednesday, July 29."
"We’re going to work to make that happen and I’ll confirm that in a couple of days' time.”
The Department of Education is completely focused on pressing on with the exams, Mr McHugh said.
“We’re not just looking at plan b, we’re looking at plan c and plan d, plan e. We’re looking at so many moveable positions here, it's difficult. The best answer I can give is at this given point in time we're working towards making the Leaving Cert happen.”
We could be looking at enormous challenges down the line, he added.
“Our complete focus at the moment is plan a, to make the Leaving Cert happen and we are going to continue to work towards that.”
