Kerry Junior Cert student misses exam after being ‘set upon’

A boy has missed a Junior Cert exam at a Co Kerry secondary school after allegedly being set upon by other students.

The incident was said to have occurred shortly before Monday afternoon’s Junior Cert CSPE paper.

The teenager was taken by ambulance to Kerry University Hospital in Tralee with injuries to his neck and ribs. He was released on Monday evening, his mother told Radio Kerry, in an interview broadcast on Wednesday morning.

The school, Causeway Comprehensive School, confirmed "an incident took place" on GAA grounds which are part of the school .

Gardaí are also investigating the alleged attack.

In a statement, the school said confirmed an incident had taken place on the GAA pitch on Monday.

“The school has investigated this incident and has dealt with this matter as per school code of behaviour. A student was unable to sit his CSPE Junior Certificate exam due to this incident,” it said.

‘Distressed’

The student’s mother said the teenager was “very distressed and in shock” over the incident and was “very upset” to have missed the exam.

She told Radio Kerry she had asked the school and the Department of Education if her son, who has perfect attendance over the past three years, might be able to sit the paper or be accommodated in some way.

However, she was told there was no way for him to do so. She said she was speaking to highlight the anomaly whereby her son, who was “the victim”, was unable to sit his exam, while the alleged aggressors could.

She said this anomaly could have serious consequences in the case of the Leaving Cert. “There has to be someway around it, but there isn’t,” she said.

Phonecall

She said she had got a phonecall on Monday from the school shortly before 2pm to say her son had “passed out” and that an ambulance was being called.

When she got to the school she discovered he was “after being beaten up and knocked unconscious”, she said.

The alleged incident may have been linked to an argument on Friday evening, whereby a friend of her son was being bullied. She said her son reminded the aggressors that it was exam time and to forget about it.

“All my son did was stick up for his friend . . . ” she said

The boy’s mother said he has been discharged and and will sit his final exams in the coming week.