Leaving Cert students could remain in school despite them shutting for the next few weeks.
Cabinet Ministers are currently meeting to discuss a range of new tougher Covid 19 restrictions.
Construction sites and schools are set to shut for January, but it’s understood the Education Minister has recommended that Leaving Cert students should be allowed to attend classes three days a week.
It comes after local sixth year students have expressed concern that the extended closure will greatly impact their exam results.
Sadhbh O’Leary, a student at Presentation Secondary School in Kilkenny, shared her fears with KCLR;
“We know we’re behind on most courses, and we haven’t had time to do any revision, which would have been a nice reassurance going into the mocks” she explains. “We don’t have any of that this year. Even over the Christmas period, I found it difficult to even think about doing the work, because you think about it and you’re just stressed instantly. It will really affect a lot of people’s results I think.”
Sadhbh says the lack of clarity over what will happen next is causing a lot of distress; “The uncertainty is the worst part of it all. Just thinking in the short term with the mocks, are we expected after this month off to come back in February and sit our full mock exams without having had our teachers in front of us since before Christmas? That’s really adding a lot of stress. The Leaving Cert is a tough year anyway, everyone knows that it’s a really hard time under the best of circumstances. So when you add in everything that’s going on now, it is really awful for people’s mental health.”
