Junior Certificate and Leaving Certificate students should have a choice of doing the Junior / Leaving cert or predicted grades.

I am a third year. I have not completed a full school year since 6th class. That was three years ago. 

We have missed out on a lot of learning due to online school. But I’d rather that than catching Covid and spreading it onto my vulnerable family members. Last years leaving cert was cancelled when there was only 90,000 cases in that year. We have had more cases from Dec 25th 2021 to Jan 1st 2022, yet our JC/LC is still going ahead? Heath and safety obviously isn’t the top of Norma Foleys agenda, school is. From Jan 1st 2021 to Jan 1st 2022, Ireland reported a total of 718,308 cases of Covid - And that is only people who were fortunate enough to get an official HSE test. Teachers have no idea if the Mocks or Junior / Leaving cert will go ahead. Why? Because of Covid and no clarity being given. We need to know if we will have the option of predicted grades or if we will do the exam and be unsafe. 

I do not feel it is safe whatsoever to have 120+ students in one room at a time. It will be nearly impossible for us all to social distance. 

We were told to imagine that everyone we talk to has Covid, but you aren’t imagining that? 
It’s time our Government actually listened to the students and teachers opinion. After all, we are going to do the JC/LC if it goes ahead, the Government aren’t.

We werealso told not to meet up with more than 4 households, yet we’re in a crowded building with 750+ students, who at the end of every class are practically ontop of eachother to get to their next class? To add to that, most students don’t wear their mask correctly.

’We have vaccines now!!!’ Yes. I am aware. But those vaccines don’t stop you catching Covid. They lower the risk of death or being on ventilation. Tell me this - How does it make sense to crowd 750+ students into a building but we cannot meet more than 4 households outside of school? I mean come on, at least make it make sense.

In the space of a year (Jan 8th 2021 - Jan 8 2022) a total of 868,188 cases have been confirmed in Ireland. This is higher than 2020, yet again. Yet again, these are only from the tests done by the HSE. For all we know we could have almost 1,000,000 cases. In the space of 8 days (Jan 1st 2022 - Jan 8th 2022, 144,282 cases of Covid have been notified, yet again, only from HSE tests. Many people are not able to get the PCR tests. It’s easier to get a ticket to a concert at this stage. 

Students are feeling very, very, very stressed about doing exams. Why? Hmm, it’s not like they haven’t done a full year of school in 3 years or anything �. 

I will say once again, Junior Cert, Leaving Cert students and Teachers/Principals should have a say on what will happen, but we don’t. Only one person can, and that’s Norma Foley herself.

The TUI wanted a staggered and delayed return to school, but Norma didn’t listen and brought all schools back on Thursday the 6th of Jan, when the county was seeing the highest amount of cases ever being reported.

How does it make sense that we are still going to do the JC/LC with more cases being reported in a week than all of 2020? Be realistic.