State Examinations Commission to appear before Petitions Committee on adding extra 30 minutes to Junior Cert English exam

The Joint Committee on Public Petitions will meet tomorrow at 1.30pm in Committee Room 2, Leinster House.

Officials from the State Examination Commission and representatives from the Department of Education and Skills will address the Committee regarding Public Petition No P000013/17-Make the new English Junior Cert Exam fairer by adding thirty extra minutes.

Vice-Chair of the Committee, Senator Colette Kelleher, said today: “Our meeting tomorrow relates to a petition submitted by a Junior Cert pupil earlier this year which aimed to persuade authorities to extend the Junior Cert English exam by 30 minutes. As part of our consideration of that petition, the State Examinations Commission (SEC) and departmental officials will tomorrow brief us on their reasons for not endorsing adding an extra 30 minutes to the exam. The Committee was greatly impressed by the petition itself and the initiative it demonstrated on the part of Tara O’Sullivan, the petitioner. We look forward to an informative meeting tomorrow and to addressing this important issue in greater detail.”

Watch proceedings live here.