Due to the spread of Covid-19, oral and practical exams for Junior and Leaving Cert students have been cancelled, although full marks are to be rewarded.
The exams were due to take place between March 23 and April 3, but will now be cancelled altogether.
The Minister for Education
Joe McHugh told a press conference, "It is the fairest response we could have taken in the circumstances, it guarantees that no student would score less than they should have should the schools have been operating as normal.
"Because of school closures it would not have been possible to hold these exams next week, nor would it be possible to reschedule them."
He added that the decision was taken "with the welfare of students at heart".
The Minister explained that he hopes the cancellation of oral and practical exams would take "some of the pressure off" Junior and Leaving Cert students preparing for exams in the summer.
He also said that they were still working on the basis of all written exams going ahead this June.
The Dáil is to meet today to rush through emergency legislation in the face of the Covid-19 national crisis.
This legislation is expected to give the government the power to direct people to stay in their homes, detain people who may have the virus but are refusing to self-isolate and order entire regions into lockdown.
Meanwhile, the HSE received an astonishing amount of responses to their call for help in the fight against the spread of Covid-19 in Ireland. In just 24 hours, 24,000 people registered their interest.
Health Minister Simon Harris shared the news, writing in a tweet, "In the last 24 hours, 24,000 people have contacted the @HSELive responding to our call for help! Ireland, I love you! What an amazing national effort."
