Irish Stammering Association (Irish Stammering Association)

Lobbying Organisation Irish Stammering Association

Date published 20 Jan, 2025

Relevant Matter Public policy or programme

Public Policy Area Education and Training

Period 1 Sep, 2024 to 31 Dec, 2024

Specific Details Reasonable Accommodations at the Certificate Examinations (RACE) for secondary school students who stammer

Intended results Clarification of the reasonable accommodations available for secondary school students who stammer in state oral exams provided by the State Examinations Commission (SEC) as part of the Reasonable Accommodations at the Certificate Examinations (RACE) Update to the 2025 RACE guidance document published by the State Examinations Commission (SEC) detailing the Reasonable Accommodations at the Certificate Examinations (RACE) available for students who stammer in state oral exams

Name of person primarily responsible for lobbying on this activity Penny Farrell

Did any Designated Public Official(DPO) or former Designated Public Official(DPO) carry out lobbying activities on your behalf in relation to this return? You must include yourself, and answer Yes, if you are a current DPO or a DPO at any time in the past. (What is a Designated Public Official?) No

Did you manage or direct a grassroots campaign? No

Was this lobbying done on behalf of a client? No

Lobbying activity

The following activities occurred for this specific Subject Matter Area.

Email (1)

Penny emailed members of the Speech and Language Therapist special interest group in stammering to suggest that any SLTs who had experience of a client navigating RACE applications to email the oral exam department of State Exam Commission in order to share the experiences of their clients who stammer. This feedback aimed to provide real-world evidence of the impact of the unclear guidelines, strengthening the case for action to ensure consistent and fair accommodations for students who stammer.

Email (1)

Email to the Irish Stammering Association Board to suggest they email the oral exam department of State Examinations Commission to share their experiences of oral exams, and highlight the inconsistency in access to accommodations for students who stammer in oral exams due to the lack of clarity in the guidelines, as they imply that accommodations are only available to students with both a hearing impairment and a speech impediment, creating confusion and limiting access to eligible students.

Email (2-5)

Penny emailed local County Councillors and TDs in her region (Co Longford) to raise awareness and highlight that the lack of clarity in the RACE guidelines for students who stammer meant that students were not consistently applying for, or granted, accommodations in oral exams. This action aimed to address the issue by bringing it to the attention of the local council and Minister for Education.

Phone call (1)

Telephone call between Penny and Andrea Feeney (CEO of State Examinations Commission) to discuss the impact of the ambiguous RACE guidelines for students who stammer, which ISA reported were causing inequitable access to oral exam accommodations. Penny highlighted the confusion caused by the wording referring to hearing impairment as a criteria. The CEO acknowledged the issue and committed to reviewing the guidelines to ensure clarity and fair access in the upcoming revision.

Email (2-5)

Sean Mimnagh (Longford County Councillor) and Joe Flaherty (Longford TD) responded to indicate they would support the enquiry into the issue. Penny sent a follow-up email requesting they inform the Minister for Education of the urgent need to provide clarity regarding stammering in the 2025 RACE guidelines. The existing guidelines were ambiguous, suggesting that accommodations for oral exams were only available to students with both a hearing impairment and a speech impediment.

Designated public officials lobbied

The following DPOs were lobbied during this return period on this specific Subject Matter Area. These DPOs were involved in at least one of the Lobbying Activities listed above, but not necessarily all of them. As returns are specific to a Subject Matter Area the above Lobbying Activities may be associated with multiple returns.

Sean Mimnagh Councillor (Longford County Council)

Joe Flaherty TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)

Andrea Feeney Chief Executive Officer (The State Examinations Commission)