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ISL for the Leaving Certificate 2025: An Update

The Department of Education has recently told the students that it needs more time to introduce an ISL examination.

Chime is supporting two Deaf students in their quest to complete an ISL exam in their Leaving Certificate in 2025. The students, Shane Hamilton and Ellie Woods, applied to the State Examination Commission (SEC) before the summer, but still don’t know if their request will be granted.

The SEC provides Leaving Certificate examinations in a range of what it refers to as ‘non-curricular EU languages’. These include Latvian, Romanian, Slovenian, Modern Greek, Finnish, Estonian, Slovakian, Swedish, Czech, Bulgarian, Hungarian, Danish, Dutch, Croatian and Maltese, but not ISL. The SEC states on its website that it is its policy to accede to requests to provide examinations for native speakers in their mother tongue in the case of national languages of EU states, as per Article 149 of the Treaty of Nice. ISL is recognised in Ireland since 2017 and it is the national  mother tongue of many Deaf Irish students.

Chime met with Minister Hildegarde Naughten in early October. Chime outlined how the elements for an ISL Leaving Certificate have already been developed, as in 2019 the Centre for Deaf Studies (based in Trinity College) administered an equivalent Leaving Certificate Honours ISL exam to three Deaf students who had applied to Dublin City University to complete a teacher-training course in ISL. Chime believes that the Department does not need substantial time to deliver an ISL Leaving Certificate exam, but instead needs to collaborate with the relevant experts to do so. Chime understands that more than two weeks after meeting with the Minister, the Department has yet to make contact with the Centre for Deaf Studies.

Despite all the above, the Department of Education has recently told the students that it needs more time to introduce an ISL examination and that this could take several years!

Meanwhile one student has submitted a complaint to the Department alleging that the Department’s position is discriminatory and that they intend to take a case to the Workplace Relations Commission, which has jurisdiction over the Equal Status Act. As we go to press, we understand that the Department has asked for more time to respond to this complaint. Seperately preliminary legal advice to the students has indicated that this is a case of clear discrimination, whereby the stated public policy of the SEC is not being made available to them – while it is made available to students from all over Europe!

Chime is calling on the Department and the Minister to do the right thing and provide an ISL Leaving Certificate exam in 2025. We know this is the just, fair, inclusive and reasonable decision. This week we will be writing to all the political party leaders to commit to provide an ISL exam to the students in 2025 by including it as an item in the programme for government which will be negotiated after the upcoming general election.

We are determined to ensure that Ellie and Shane achieve their right to sit an ISL exam in their Leaving Certificate in 2025. Watch this space!