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Local students part of school reform survey

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By Michelle Crean

Students from St Brendan's College were part of a national survey to gauge their feelings on reforming the senior cycle in secondary schools. On Wednesday, Irish Second-Level Students’ Union (ISSU) held a virtual symposium to launch their Senior Cycle Reform Report.

The ISSU has been consulting with students, education stakeholders and representative groups in the creation of this new Senior Cycle Reform Report which was launched by former Minister of Education and Skills Ruairí Quinn.

Participants of the survey are students from 32 ISSU member schools across the country. The survey sample is representative of the school and student make-up of Ireland, and both Fifth and Sixth year groups were invited to complete the survey.

The Senior Cycle Reform Report will form the basis for future lobbying by the ISSU on the issue of Senior Cycle Reform

"Over the past couple of months, we've been trying to gauge what type of reforms are needed for the Senior Cycle," Kacper Bogalecki, Regional Officer of ISSU, and a Fifth Year student in St Brendan's, told the Killarney Advertiser.

"With COVID-19 testing our educational system, and also cognisant of the fact that the current system that is in place is outdated and no longer fit for purpose, we wanted to consult our members on what their thoughts were on the changes that needed to be made. In the two weeks before our Easter Break, we released our survey to the students of 32 of our member-schools of which St Brendan's College was a part of, and held a Town Hall Consultation at our Extraordinary Assembly last week."

These consultations highlighted the areas of the Irish Senior Cycle Programme that fell short of what students required, he explained.

"Some of the key findings were that 80% of respondents said that the academic work and/or prospect of exams in the senior cycle had negatively impacted their mental health and 56.9% of students disagreed, or strongly disagreed with the statement that the skills that they were taught in senior cycle prepared them to leave school."

On Wednesday these results were presented and discussed.

"Going forward, we plan to present these findings to the relevant bodies and will lobby our fellow stakeholders to ensure that the new senior cycle reflects what students in today's world need, so that they are prepared for life after second-level education."

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Contactless payments launched on Local Link services

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Passengers using TFI Local Link Kerry services in Killarney and across the county can now pay for their journeys using contactless card payments.

The National Transport Authority (NTA) confirmed the rollout this week, allowing commuters to simply tap their debit card, credit card, or mobile devices, such as Apple Pay and Google Pa, when boarding.

The move is designed to offer more convenience for those using high-frequency rural and regional routes.

In Killarney, the new payment option will be available on the TFI Anseo town services, which have seen a significant increase in passenger numbers since their introduction.

The contactless system is currently available for single journey fares, while those using daily or weekly passes can continue to use the Leap website or the TFI Leap Top Up App.
Alan O’Connell, General Manager of TFI Local Link Kerry, welcomed the modernisation of the fleet.

“The introduction of contactless payments is another welcome step forward for public transport in Kerry,” he said. “It complements other major projects in the county, including the expansion of TFI Local Link services and the delivery of TFI Anseo in Killarney, which is proving to be another great initiative.”

While the new technology offers a modern alternative, traditional payment methods are not being phased out. Cash payments, TFI Leap cards, and Free Travel Cards all remains fully valid across the network.

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How will our Kerry TDs vote tomorrow?

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Tomorrow, Sinn Féin will be tabling a motion of no confidence against the Government after the protests that took place nationwide during the week.

Earlier today we asked our readers how would they vote in a no confidence motion against the Government?

Most of our readers said they would vote no confidence, while some said, yes they do have confidence in the Government.

One reader said: “Vote confidence. The only proper leadership over the last few days came from government. Courage came when needed despite how unpopular it looked in the moment. By contrast, opposition politicians wanted the country to burn to suit themselves”.

Another reader stated: “No confidence. Shambolic and heavy handed handling of protests this past week”.

However, some people didn’t have any confidence in either side with a reader saying: “No confidence in the no confidence! Different wings of the same bird! We need a complete overhaul of the political system”.

We asked the question to our 5 Kerry TDs before lunch-time today, asking them what their vote will be tomorrow.

We received one reply from Sinn Féin’s Kerry TD Pa Daly.

He will be voting no confidence in the Government tomorrow along with his party.

Other media outlets are reporting that Independent TD Danny Healy-Rae is undecided at the moment.

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