We are now six weeks out from the sitting of the 2023 Leaving Cert.
Despite all the well-documented issues which presented last year regarding access to the deferred sittings; repeated representations to the Minister for Education, State Exams Commission (SEC), the Oireachtas Committee on Education; calls from epilepsy clinicians to address the issues identified for students with epilepsy; and face to face meetings with both the Minister and the SEC, we are still none the wiser as to what changes – if any – will be made to the criteria for the deferred sitting this year.
In the Dáil yesterday, our ongoing campaign around the eligibility criteria for the deferred sitting of the Leaving Cert exams was raised with the Taoiseach by Deputy Patrick Costello.
You can see Deputy Costello’s question and the Taoiseach’s response in the video below.
When we met with the Minister and the SEC earlier this year, one of our key points was the need to announce and communicate the 2023 process as early as possible in order to provide clarity to students with epilepsy, their families, and their schools. You can read the key points which we have been raising by reading correspondence we sent in July 2022 to Minister Foley on our website.
The SEC have stated that they intend to meet with Epilepsy Ireland and the Irish Epilepsy League prior to the announcement of any new or updated criteria to be used for this year’s Leaving Cert. In fact, the SEC stated to us only last week that they would be in touch with us with an update at the end of last week. This has not happened.
While we have always acknowledged the complexities the SEC faces in organising the leaving cert exams and recognised their obligation to preserve the integrity of state exams, it is simply unacceptable that we are once again on the cusp of the examinations with no clarity on whether the documented issues will be resolved for 2023.
Last year, the criteria were published only days before the exams – meaning that students, parents, schools and clinicians had little chance to truly familiarise themselves with the criteria. Later on, it emerged that the criteria themselves were applied inconsistently from one student to another in similar circumstances.
We cannot have this situation again in 2023. The issues facing students with epilepsy have been well documented over many years. The steps taken last year to introduce deferred sittings for medical reasons were most welcome. It is now time for the SEC to complete the process and fully address the problems that remain for students with epilepsy.
We will continue to use every avenue available to us to pursue this matter further and provide updates on our website and social media channels.
To learn more about the history of this issue, visit the ‘Advocacy’ section of our website.
**Are you a parent/guardian of a student with epilepsy sitting their Leaving Cert this year? We’d like to hear from you – please contact our Advocacy & Communications Manager, Paddy McGeoghegan on pmcgeoghegan@epilepsy.ie with your name, number, where you are from, and Paddy will be in touch as soon as possible – you may be able to help assist with this campaign and Paddy will discuss how. **