The Higher Education Minister has said he is “absolutely determined” to ensure in-person exams can go ahead in line with public health advice.
NUI Galway this week defended its decision to hold in-person exams after the college student’s union claimed it was “reckless” to go ahead with them while COVID cases remain high.
It said a range of measures had been taken to ensure the exams were safe – including significantly reduced capacity and social distancing in exam halls, alongside increased ventilation, carbon dioxide monitoring and extensive cleaning.
Other colleges have also moved ahead with some level of in-person exams, including Trinity College which is hosting exams at the RDS this week.
The college said just under half this year’s Christmas exams were being held in-person, with the RDS operating at 60% capacity.
On The Pat Kenny Show this morning, Higher Education Minister Simon Harris said the decision to move forward with in-person exams was in line with public health advice.
“I am absolutely determined to make sure we continue to deliver in-person on-campus education and exams where appropriate,” he said.
“That is not the same as saying that we disregard public health – of course we don’t. There is an obligation on all universities to closely follow public health advice.”
"This country is open"
He said people have to remember that Ireland is open and trying to live alongside the virus.
“I want to be conscious of the fact that, rightly, and this is good thing, people are very vigilant and conscious of COVID, particularly in the context of the new variant,” he said.
“Everyone wants to keep themselves and their families safe, particularly in the run-up to Christmas.
“But I also need to be very clear – this country is open. This country is trying to live alongside COVID.
“COVID is not going away, it is not going to disappear; there will probably be more variants and we have to work out a way of getting on with our lives in manner that is safe.”
Living with COVID
Minister Harris assured any student sitting in an exam hall this afternoon that they are doing so in line with public health advice.
“Whether you are going to a concert, whether it is a match, whether it is a lecture, whether it is an exam, whether it is heading into the pub or the restaurant or heading over to visit your family at Christmas – we all have to adapt those environments to make sure they are safe,” he said.
“That is the phase we are in now and I want us to be in that phase. For a long, long time I heard the people of this country saying we have to learn to live with this, we have to live alongside it; we can’t put our lives on hold forever and I agree with that.
“That is what this is. We are trying to live alongside it. It is not easy, it is bumpy, not everything goes perfectly right either and as situations change, we have to change – but this is what we are trying to do because the days of saying shut that down, shut this down, shut the other down … it is hard to see the benefit of that when you know the virus is not going to disappear in a week or a month or two months.”
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