By Michelle Crean

After multiple years of disrupted education local students are calling for hybrid State exams this year.

Many say they feel under pressure having missed school days due to COVID-19 and feel a hybrid exam would suit them better.ISSU conducted a nationwide survey last week with 40,000 students saying they'd prefer a hybrid alternative.

St Brendan's College student Kacper Bogalecki, who is a National ISSU representative, says he has spoken to students from Killarney schools, and their message is clear that "changes must be made".

"It is clear to me that the students do not want the Leaving Cert to go ahead as planned," he told the Killarney Advertiser.

"Many feel under a lot of pressure, having missed school because of COVID-19, many suggest the "hybrid model" as their preferred outcome for the 2022 Leaving Cert. Many also feel that additional changes should be made to the written exams - similar to what last year's cohort received. They highlighted to me how the pandemic has affected their senior cycle education as a whole pointing out remote learning last year as well as this year's substitution crisis as a major cause for this reasoning. Some students, those living in a rural community, said that having online learning whilst being in Fifth Year caused many to be disadvantaged over simply having an unstable Internet connection.

The accommodations that were made for our cohort in August are simply not enough, he added.

"This very much mirrors the results of the nationwide survey ISSU recently conducted where 67.81% of respondents indicated a hybrid model as their first preference and when including second preferences this rose 84.81% of Sixth Year students rating this option favourably. It is evident that they do not want a "traditional" Leaving Certificate exam. At this point in time many Leaving Certificate students are looking for an answer, some clarity for what their exams will look like."

When it comes to the Junior Cycle Exams, he said he received a lot of feedback from students who wanted to have the choice of sitting an exam in June as opposed to last year where the Junior Certificate/Cycle exams did not proceed.

STUDENTS' OPINION

“I personally believe that a hybrid model would be the correct option for this year’s Leaving Cert," Andrew Moynihan, a Sixth Year St Brendan’s College student, said.

"Nearly my entire Senior Cycle from Transition Year to today has been in a global pandemic. Therefore, to consider our Leaving Cert a “Normal Leaving Cert” would be grossly unfair on all students. The hybrid model would alleviate much of the stress laid upon us right now.”

Peter Walsh, also a student in Sixth Year in St Brendan’s College, said he feels it's important to understand that their time in Senior Cycle hasn’t been traditional.

"We shouldn’t have to do a traditional Leaving Cert. We have missed several weeks last year as well having to suffer through the substitution crisis. I have also been impacted on a personal level as I missed school at the start of this year. I hope that the work I have put in for the last two years is accounted for and that it isn’t all down to one exam, especially due to our current circumstances. I would like to see a hybrid model introduced to satisfy the needs of the majority of the student population.”