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Student-teacher contact and the SEC Accredited Grades
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The principal, deputy principal(s), teachers or other members of the school staff will follow the specified procedures for SEC Accredited Grades and must not under any circumstances discuss with or disclose to any student or parent or guardian of any student the estimated marks that the school is submitting.
Conversely, parents/guardians and students must not under any circumstances contact, either formally or informally, directly or indirectly, a teacher or other member of staff at any stage to discuss, or with a view to influencing the decision-making process relating to the estimated marks to be assigned to a student in any subject or which may confer an undue advantage to a particular student. The holding of formal sixth-year parent-teacher meetings in the period 1 March 2021 to 28 May 2021 is not advised. An individual parent-teacher meeting may be sought and arranged in exceptional circumstances only.
Teachers and school personnel, the employees of the SEC and the Department of Education must not be subjected to any type of influence, inducement (including gifts), pressure or coercion by a parent/guardian, student or any other person in relation to a student’s mark either before or after it has been assigned. This includes any financial, economic or other personal interest which might be perceived to compromise the impartiality and independence of the teacher or principal in the context of the decision-making process.
Such contact would be inappropriate, as it could objectively be viewed as an attempt to interfere with the fairness, equality of treatment and objectivity required of teachers and schools in the assigning of estimated marks for the individual student concerned, and for the students in the school as a whole. This would in turn undermine the integrity of the SEC Accredited Grades model.
Where a person seeks to improperly influence the estimation process, this may lead to withholding of results or more serious consequences. This aspect is being considered further and detailed information on consequences of such behaviour will be published as soon as possible.
Read the complete text version of A Guide to State Examinations and Accredited Grades for Leaving Certificate 2021 or download a pdf copy below:
