The students on the XLc Project may be forced to sit exams under the June sun, writes BREDA O'BRIEN
SOMETIMES YOU can cope with the big calamities, like discovering that the immaculately suited, fresh-smelling individuals who ran the banks were actually raving, wild-eyed gamblers. Sometimes, it’s the small things that make you want to put your head in your hands and give up.
Although, come to think of it, 88 tables and chairs are no small thing. That’s what Nuala Jackson of the XLc Project in Waterford had delivered to her the other day. What’s wrong with that, you might ask, doesn’t she have 88 students who are going to sit the Leaving Cert? Won’t they need the tables and chairs?
They certainly will, but at the time they were delivered on behalf of the State Examinations Commission (SEC), Jackson had no venue in which to hold the examinations. A victim of her own success at getting so-called educational failures through exams, the rooms she had used were now too small.
She needed to rent a venue. The commission knew that for months, but had been unwilling to give a straight answer as to whether it would fund the new venue. It said it didn’t have the budget. But it would pay for the supervisors.
And she was still sent the tables and chairs. When she rang to see what was going on, she was told to send them back to Dublin. With that gift of sanity that distinguishes her from the mad world she is sometimes forced to inhabit, Jackson declined.
She is holding on to the tables and chairs, in the hope she will have somewhere to put them, along with her students. Later on, in response to a query from this column, the SEC press office issued a cautious statement. “The SEC is aware of a difficulty with accommodation for examination candidates which has arisen in the XLc Project in Waterford this year due to an increase candidature [sic] on previous years.
“The SEC is liaising with the XLc Project to put in place appropriate arrangements to facilitate the candidates in taking their examinations. The SEC can confirm that all candidates in the XLc Project will be facilitated in taking their examinations this year.”
When I inquired if candidates would have to pay additional fees for this privilege, the press office could not confirm that the students would not be levied, as “they were still in negotiations with Jackson”.
For the love of God, the XLc Project deals with the kids that the education system could not cope with, some because they were too disruptive, and others because they were bullied.
They also have lots of kids who just hate school, or who regret leaving school early due to the empty promises of the Celtic Tiger, or who are home-educated.
The project takes anyone who comes to them, and Jackson does it without pay, surviving on her teaching pension. The others involved are either voluntary or receiving half or less what a teacher would normally earn.
Given the challenges facing so many of the students, the results achieved are frankly brilliant. The proposed venue for the Leaving Certificate will cost €1,350. And for that paltry sum, they are making these people jump through hoops.
Jackson went on Waterford local radio, WLR, to appeal for a hall, and was immediately offered two, but neither was ideal. Ordinary people listening to their radios came forward to help.
The SEC needed a call from an Irish Times columnist before it could confirm they would not have the students doing their exams under a June sky.
Jackson is disappointed. She thinks the examinations commission is brilliant – efficient and helpful. She even dared to believe that the commission was appreciative and supportive of the work that she, her son Eoin, other family members and volunteers do.
The charitable explanation is that it is all because of the insane cutbacks that are affecting education and everything else.
This column has asked before why XLc does not receive Department of Education funding. Every time I ask, it seems more and more wrong that the people who run this project have to overcome obstacles that others never have to.
The XLc students don’t get a capitation grant. Their teachers are not paid by the State. This week, once again, we heard prison officers warning about chaos and overcrowding in our prisons. We know the best way to keep people out of prison is to educate them. Last June, there were headlines when the average cost of keeping a person in prison for a year fell to €77,000. In other words, it costs more to keep one person in prison for a week than to pay for 88 XLc students to sit their Leaving Cert. The exams are stressful enough, without worrying if you will have a roof over your head while doing them.
The XLc students pay examination fees (unless they have a medical card). They have already completed and submitted orals, coursework and practicals. The SEC was happy to allow them to do all that.
One of the reasons often given for not funding XLc is that it is not replicable. The sub-text is that the Jacksons and their willing friends are so gifted and unique that no one else could do what they are doing with these challenging students.
XLc believes that is a cop-out. Even if it cannot be cloned and rolled out countrywide, why not fund it anyway? It is making a real difference in the lives of dozens of people every year. A few years ago, the TUI estimated that over a lifetime, an early school leaver who never worked would end up costing the State €800,000. That is probably a conservative estimate.
When Jackson eventually goes to her eternal reward, someone will probably suggest a statue of her on the quays in Waterford. But could we just skip that, and give the woman a venue for her kids to sit their Leaving Cert,
one they don’t have to pay extra for? Or really go mad and fund XLc?