Ninth Level Ireland

“University of Limerick has said most students will be allowed on campus for just one week each month when the new academic year gets underway in September. In addition, it says almost all lectures will be delivered online – during on and off-campus weeks – due to space constraints created by physical distancing requirements …” (more)

[Carl O’Brien, Irish Times, 8 July]

“On July 8th, Deputy President and Registrar of University College Dublin (UCD) Mark Rogers announced to current students via email the plan for the upcoming academic year, stating that ‘your education remains our top priority’ …” (more)

[Luke Murphy, College Tribune, 8 July]

“A Co Waterford Leaving Cert student has been told he is not eligible for predicted grades for one of the subjects he studied because he was self-taught and did not have a tutor …” (more)

[Shauna Bowers, Irish Times, 6 July]

“Last semester the UCD learning experience was flipped on its head as in-person teaching was suspended and the announcement made that teaching would be moving online. The College Tribune spoke to lecturers Judy Walsh, Dr Karen Smith, and Dr Mary McAuliffe from UCD’s School of Social Policy, Social Work and Social Justice about their experience of online-teaching and the challenges it posed …” (more)

[Sadhbh O’Muirí, College Tribune, 5 July]

“Sir, – Prof Pat O’Connor rightly points out that the process this year of awarding estimated Leaving Certificate grades may contain some built-in biases (‘Leaving Cert calculated grades open to danger of gender bias’, Opinion & Analysis, July 1st) …” (more)

[Lennon Ó Náraigh, Irish Times, 4 July]

“Sir, – Prof Pat O’Connor (‘Leaving Cert calculated grades open to danger of gender bias’, Opinion & Analysis, July 1st) states that in the guidelines issued to teachers regarding this process ‘there is no reference to gender bias’. This is not entirely the case …” (more)

[Letters, Irish Times, 3 July]

“Pat O’Connor, Professor Emeritus of sociology and social policy at the University of Limerick and visiting Professor at the Geary Institute, University College Dublin, speaks to Mary about how the 2020 Leaving Cert calculated grading system may result in gender bias in student’s final marks …” (audio)

[RTÉ Radio 1 – Drivetime, 1 July]

“Hundreds of medical students are to use Croke Park as a make-shift college campus over the coming academic year to allow them to learn while social distancing. The Royal College of Surgeons Ireland (RCSI) has signed a deal with GAA headquarters to allow 650 students will use event spaces and restaurants over a six-day week …” (more)

[Carl O’Brien, Irish Times, 1 July]

“The Department of Education and Skills assumes that teachers will act professionally when estimating the percentage mark that their students might have received in the 2020 Leaving Cert, and in the ranking of their students relative to one another …” (more)

[Pat O’Connor, Irish Times, 1 July]

“School closures have had a much more severe impact on students’ learning and motivation in disadvantaged secondary schools, a new ESRI study indicates. The research says school leaders fear a key outcome of the Covid-19 lockdown will be a widening of the gap between less well-off and more affluent students …” (more)

[Carl O’Brien and Marie O’Halloran, Irish Times, 26 June]

“Leaving Cert students who wish to receive a calculated grade will be required to ‘opt in’ online next month in advance of results being issued. More than 60,000 students have already registered with a student portal and they will be contacted directly when it is time to indicate if they wish to opt-in to receive their calculated grades. A department spokesman said this is due to take place in July …” (more)

[Carl O’Brien, Irish Times, 25 June]

“The latest results from a survey of Maynooth University students in response to Covid 19 show ‘62% of students indicate that they felt ‘optimistic’ a little, or a lot, less often than usual in the 30 days preceding the survey’ …” (more)

[Leinster Leader, 24 June]

“The traditional version of the Leaving Certificate exam will be held in November at the earliest, the Education Minister Joe McHugh has said. More than 60,000 students were due to sit the written exam this year but it was postponed and replaced with calculated grades due to the coronavirus pandemic …” (more)

[Aine McMahon, Independent, 24 June]

“Several Irish universities say they have no plans to reduce fees for courses beginning this autumn, even though some may be fully or partially moved online due to the impact of Covid-19. As universities and colleges introduce more blended and online learning for the upcoming academic year, on-campus physical learning hours are likely to be significantly impacted for many courses …” (more)

[Brian O’Connell, RTÉ News, 24 June]

“I came across a new word the other day: carceral. The first thing that came to mind was a lynx-like creature with big ears, but a quick Google reminded me that I was thinking of the Caracal, a curious-looking ‘big’ cat who has the ability to move its ears in a manner not unlike Yoda from Star Wars …” (more)

[Tales from Academia, 23 June]

“‘Teachers will predict the grades of their own students and there will be no Leaving Cert exam’ – if you’d suggested this at the start of 2020, teachers, unions, parents, students and the Department of Education would have assumed you were sleep-talking through a far-fetched Leaving Cert dream …” (more)

[Peter McGuire, Irish Times, 23 June]

“There is no other country in the world where the final exam at second level dominates public discourse as much as in Ireland. Newspapers analyse why a certain poet did or did not appear on a particular paper while talk radio can guarantee to get listeners going by mentioning any possible changes …” (more)

[Malcolm Byrne, Irish Times, 23 June]

“A ‘small number’ of schools have yet to complete the process of uploading data relating to calculated grades for Leaving Certificate 2020. The Department of Education’s calculated-grades collection system – which allows schools to upload data on the estimated marks and class rankings for Leaving Cert students – was due to shut at close of business on Monday …” (more)

[Éanna Ó Caollaí, Irish Times, 22 June]

“Waterford Institute of Technology have issued guidelines for students who are awaiting offers of college places, saying they will have as much on-campus activity as its permitted at the time. Ahead of the CAO Change of Mind deadline of 1 July, WIT has shared information on what WIT freshers can expect college life to look like …” (more)

[Aoibhin Fallon, WLR FM, 22 June]

“Teaching staff in Trinity have hit out at College for failing to provide additional funding to facilitate online teaching and learning, which will continue into the next academic year. The Irish Federation of University Teachers (IFUT) has been told that individual schools will be responsible for securing funding to ensure that staff can facilitate online teaching and learning from their homes …” (more)

[Emer Moreau, University Times, 22 June]