Students’ Union Leaders Appeal for Compassion from NUI Galway
Students’ Union leaders from USI, UCC, Trinity, GMIT and Maynooth have together written to the NUI Galway President and Vice-President to voice their concern about the University’s opposition to the introduction of policies that will support students undertaking assessment during the COVID-19 pandemic. This appeal for more compassionate policies echoes continued calls from NUI Galway Students’ Union for the University to provide additional flexibility in assessments this year.
Specific policies that have been introduced in other Universities include:
- The option to retake passed exams without charge where students felt they could have achieved a better mark.
- Removal of repeat exam fees.
A recent survey of over 4,000 NUI Galway students found that “54.9% were unsure that they would get a Graduate job offer”. The opportunity to have free resits of both passed and failed exams would ensure the graduating class to 2021 have a better chance of finding a job without the COVID-19 taking more from their futures.
Union of Students in Ireland (USI) represent 374,000 students across the island of Ireland and USI President Lorna Fitzpatrick said: “We hope that the opportunities that other colleges such as UCC, Trinity & Maynooth have introduced would also be introduced in NUI Galway with the aim of providing a consistent approach to students across the sector. We recognise the measures introduced to date, and welcome same, however, we do not believe they provide sufficient supports for students during this time.”
Students’ Union President Pádraic Toomey added: “We are particularly worried about our final year students as they will go out into the workforce and compete with students from UCC, Trinity and Maynooth. We need a level playing field where all students are offered equal opportunities to get the best possible results in these extremely trying circumstances. The continued refusal of NUI Galway to remove the exorbitant €295 repeat exam fee is putting huge stress on our students who are already at breaking point.”
Read Full Text of Letter to NUIG Here:
