Ninth Level Ireland

“All teaching in the School of Languages, Literatures and Cultural Studies will move online until at least the week ending November 13th. In an email to students, Tracy Corbett, a communications officer in the School, said that the School would be ‘closely monitoring all public health advice to determine whether we will deliver face to face teaching after the 13th November, or whether we will continue to deliver online teaching’ …” (more)

[Cormac Watson, University Times, 24 September]

“The Teachers’ Union of Ireland (TUI) has accused the Department of Education of a ‘fundamental breach of trust’ over the release of class ranking information to Leaving Cert 2020 students. The union said it showed ‘scant regard for vulnerable students’ and had the potential to be ‘extremely damaging’ to them …” (more)

[Katherine Donnelly, Independent, 23 September]

“University College Dublin (UCD) have announced that learning will remain online until October 5th at the earliest. This date is in reference to the government’s review of the current level 3 restrictions. This was communicated to students in the afternoon of September 22nd in an email from Deputy President Mark Rodgers …” (more)

[Luke Murphy, College Tribune, 22 September]

“Students who received calculated grades under this year’s Leaving Certificate process will be able to see the class ranking their teacher gave them from next Monday. The Department of Education says it is making the information available to students through the calculated grades online portal after receiving legal advice on the issue …” (more)

[RTÉ News, 22 September]

“As the Provost of Trinity College Dublin, I’m often asked for advice about which university somebody’s daughter or son should attend, or if they should attend university at all. The question is understandable but impossible to answer unless one knows the potential student well …” (more)

[Patrick Prendergast, Irish Times, 22 September]

“It has been announced that Orientation Week will take place solely online. University College Dublin (UCD) Registrar Mark Rogers declared in an email that Orientation Week, a week dedicated to helping first-year students navigate college life, will take place virtually following the revised public health guidelines released by the government on Friday …” (more)

[Mahnoor Choudhry, College Tribune, 21 September]

“As the Covid crisis worsens (again!) the issue of on-campus teaching is becoming more and more contentious. There are quite a few academics on social media expressing their desire to get back in the classroom because they (the academics) miss the whole experience. I miss it too but it’s important to ask why you would risk the health of yourself and your students by using a face-to-face approach rather than going online. Is it for the students or is it for you? …” (more)

[Tales from Academia, 21 September]

“Yesterday’s Covid-19 figures for Ireland were a bit of a shocker, with 396 new cases (241 of them in Dublin). The latest 7-day average is 283.1 new cases per day. We haven’t seen figures like this since April. Here’s the latest log-linear graph …” (more)

[In the Dark, 21 September]

“The skies are darkening with the chickens coming home to roost. The High Court cases are the big test of a Leaving Cert which may have seemed two weeks ago to have been a success. In reality, it was always nothing short of a shambles. If the courts rule in favour of the students, then the whole house of cards will come tumbling down as a disorderly queue forms for those with similar claims …” (more)

[Colm O’Rourke, Independent, 20 September]

“Record numbers of young people in the UK are starting a university course this autumn, with many anxious to escape a collapsing employment market. But as students embark on a very different university experience, vice-chancellors are worried that many may not last the year …” (more)

[Anna Fazackerley, Guardian, 19 September]

“As the capital is set to move to Level 3 of lockdown, University College Dublin is preparing for the drastic effects the new regulations will have on the first few weeks of the Autumn Term. The Registrar has announced that UCD will be operating under Level 4 restrictions with regard to teaching …” (more)

[Jack McGee, College Tribune, 18 September]

“Maynooth University is to move lectures online and limit on-site teaching, it announced in a statement this evening in response to the lockdown measures imposed on Dublin earlier today. Dublin has moved to Level 3 restrictions due to the number of Covid-19 cases in the capital …” (more)

[Leinster Leader, 18 September]

“Removing ‘school profiling’ from the calculated grades process for Leaving Cert students may have affected the accuracy of the final results, according to a Department of Education study. The plan to take account of schools’ Leaving Cert performance over a three-year period sparked significant controversy over the summer …” (more)

[Carl O’Brien, Irish Times, 19 September]

“Classes in the Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, apart from those which must be delivered in person, will move online until level-three restrictions are lifted, the College announced this evening …” (more)

[Cormac Watson, University Times, 18 September]

“The Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, Simon Harris TD, has today (Friday) welcomed the initiation of enhanced measures by the higher and further education sectors in light of heightened COVID-19 restrictions in Dublin, saying …” (more)

[gov.ie, 18 September]

“The universities in Dublin have agreed a set of enhanced measures in response to a request from government / NPHET to deal with the rising incidence of Covid-19 in the county. All universities already have detailed plans in place for the safe re-opening of campus over the next two weeks. Arising from the request from government, Dublin universities have made further provisions as follows …” (more)

[IUA, 18 September]

“Dublin’s four universities have suspended the majority of on-campus activities and moved classes online as tighter Covid-19 restrictions look set to be implemented in the capital. UCD, Trinity College, DCU and TU Dublin announced that all teaching and learning will be online except for practical workshop and lab-based tuition that cannot be done remotely …” (more)

[Ceimin Burke, TheJournal.ie, 18 September]

“The impact of a move to Level Three of the Government’s new Covid-19 guidelines has lead to uncertainty for third-level institutes in Dublin. As the 14-day incidence rate of cases per 100,000 in the capital has now risen to 109.6, additional restrictions are being considered to slow the spread of the virus …” (more)

[Muireann Duffy, BreakingNews.ie, 17 September]

“Trinity students can expect the number of in-person teaching hours they have to remain the same even if the government moves to level three in its coronavirus roadmap, the Provost announced today …” (more)

[Cormac Watson, University Times, 17 September]

“More than one in five Leaving Cert candidates have appealed the calculated grades they received. When the deadline for appeal applications closed, 12,292 of the 60,419 students challenged how the process introduced to replace the June exams treated them …” (more)

[Katherine Donnelly, Independent, 16 September]