Minister for Education Norma Foley has said the hybrid plan for the Leaving Certificate is fair and that a decision had to be made despite teachers' concerns about calculated grades.
Ms Foley added that what was sought around this year's Leaving Cert was clarity and choice and that is exactly what was presented yesterday.
Speaking on RTÉ's Today with Philip Boucher-Hayes, she said it gives students a choice to sit an exam or to opt for a calculated grade.
Minister Foley said a decision was made that puts students front and centre and brings "certainty, clarity and choice".
She said she will continue today to address any concerns the teachers' unions may have and "iron out" any difficulties that remain.
"This is the plan and what we have offered to the students", she said.
Ms Foley said that she and the Government felt after the consultation process, that with five months of in-person learning missed it was right to afford students the opportunity to both receive a calculated grade and also to sit an exam.
She said both teachers' unions have welcomed many aspects of the plan, but it is not possible to give 100% to each voice around the table.
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She said she hopes the maximum number of students will sit the exam, but both are of equal value and students will be issued one set of their best overall results.
The minister said their work when they return to school will contribute to their calculated grade and encourage them to engage in school over the next few months.
She said legislation to prevent the canvassing of teachers is being prepared, with sanctions, including students being disbarred from exams, now under consideration.
She stressed that teachers will be indemnified as part of the grading process and all efforts will be made to prevent the canvassing of teachers.
The minister said that she is confident the data exists for teachers to assess students for calculated grades and once schools reopen there will be sufficient time for additional data, where required, to be gathered by teachers.
The Department of Education has given more details of this year's Leaving Cert assessment process.
- An online system will open on 8 March through which students will be able to indicate whether they wish to opt for accredited grades in a subject, or an exam, or both.
- Students who opt for both a calculated grade and an exam will initially receive one single result - whichever is highest - and will not initially know which of the two processes the result relates to. Only at a later stage will disaggregated results information be made available to students. "We will not be seeking to put one process over the other," department officials said.
- The practical assessment aspects of many subjects will go ahead in the main. It is hoped that music practicals for instance can be held over the Easter break. However, the department said that "a significant number of people performing together will be a difficulty" and that some level of revised arrangements are likely in this case.
- Public health concerns also mean it seems unlikely that practical skills or performance tests in Construction Studies, Engineering and PE will go ahead. The department said running these would be "challenging".
- A framework will be published to give guidance to teachers as to how best to assess their students for accredited grade purposes over the coming weeks and months. The department of Education says it doesn't want students "over-assessed".
- Modifications have already been introduced in the exam papers for each subject to compensate for the disruptions that the class of 2021 have already experienced. These adjustments centre on offering students more choice in the questions they must answer. Asked could further changes be made department and State Examinations Commission officials said "that would need to be looked at".
- Legislation to ban the canvassing of teachers is expected to come before Cabinet "very soon".
- National standardisation will take place for both the exam results and accredited grades. As with last year the past performance of a school will not form part of any standardisation. Last year's results will be taken into account for standardisation purposes. But the details of all this have yet to be fully worked out.
Meanwhile, the timetable for this year's Leaving Cert exams has been published.
It follows the traditional pattern, beginning at 9.30am on 9 June with English Paper 1, and continue until 29 June.
It is the custom for the exams to begin on the first Wednesday after the June bank holiday.
This is the plan for this year too, but it is contingent on the wider public health situation.
Teacher unions concerned over Leaving Cert exam plans
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In relation to schools reopening, Minister Foley said that a "phased and reviewed" return to school is being considered from 1 March, with Leaving Certificate and junior primary school pupils set to return first.
She said guided by public health advice, the Government will announce plans on Tuesday in relation to schools returning.
'Very gradual approach' to school reopenings - Tánaiste
Meanwhile, Tánaiste Leo Varadkar said there will be a delay of "two to three weeks" between the first students returning to class and a wider school reopening.
He told the Dáil that the public health advice given to Government by the National Public Health Emergency Team was that the transmission of Covid-19 will need to be assessed during that period.
Mr Varadkar said this "very gradual approach" would involve starting with Leaving Cert students and "those younger years who are considered to be the lowest risk".
He was replying to Labour leader Alan Kelly, who said the Department of Education was the State's "most dysfunctional", but the coalition needed to "stop kite-flying" and provide "clarity and certainty" to students and parents.
He called for orals and practicals to be available to students who are either planning to the written exam or those opting for the calculated grades, saying that such external assessment "would give peace of mind".
The Tánaiste said the Cabinet sub-committee on Covid-19 would be considering the issue again this evening, but the Government could not provide "absolute certainty" given the pandemic.
Additional reporting Paul Cunningham
