'Reckless' media coverage of Leaving Cert adding to pressure on students, Oireachtas hears

 Fine Gael TD Paul Kehoe was critical of what he deemed 'reckless' reports about the 'points race'.

The chair of the Oireachtas education committee has taken aim at media coverage of the Leaving Cert, criticising what he deems “reckless” reporting for adding pressure on students.

Fine Gael TD Paul Kehoe made the charge while senior civil servants from the State Examinations Commission (SEC) and the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) appeared before the committee on Tuesday.

Earlier in the meeting, SEC chief executive Andrea Feeney said Ireland is unusual in terms of the high media coverage generated around students’ final set of school exams, adding that the SEC would like to see a moratorium imposed if possible.

When asked by Fine Fáil TD Jim O’Callaghan if media coverage adds to pressure on students, Ms Feeney said: “Undoubtedly. I'm sure it's not all of it but it certainly contributes to it.” 

Mr O’Callaghan said: "In fairness to the media, I don't think there's any intention there to impose stress on students, but just think it's become so culturally embedded in the Irish calendar and in our society." 

Addressing the attendees later in the meeting, Mr Kehoe was critical of what he deemed “reckless” reports about the “points race”.

“I really believe that our national broadcaster RTÉ and other national radio outlets and our print media are reckless in some of their coverage coming up to the Leaving Cert.” 

We have moratoriums around elections, he said, where the media is “not allowed” to report on it 24 hours before it. 

Students often receive one message from their teachers and another from their parents. 

“Then the media comes in on top of that as well. Not alone are they driving the student mad, they are driving their parents mad," Mr Kehoe said.

"I’m glad ye [the SEC] have said you would like something to be done about this, but what can be done?”

In response, Ms Feeney said: “The media coverage in relation to senior cycle and the Leaving Certificate, in particular, is a symptom, not a cause, and they are reflecting broader societal imperatives. They are maybe contributing or reflecting the stress to a certain extent.” 

However, while over the past two years there has been a huge amount of Leaving Cert coverage due to Covid, there hasn’t been the usual coverage in August of the “high-achievers", she added. 

“There were no photographs on the front pages saying this is the students with nine H1s or eight H1s. It didn't happen in either of the last two years, and that is a change.”

Meanwhile, the SEC does not have a date yet for when students will get their Leaving Cert results. 

"We've had later results over the last two years because things were different and things are different again this year," Ms Feeney told the committee. 

It will be a "challenge" as the SEC will have two sets of exams, plus the work around placing the results this year on an aggregate.