asked the Minister for Education if he will state the number of years the 1941 examiner in Greek for the Intermediate Certificate (boys) has been so acting; how many assistant examiners in Greek were there in 1941; how many of these were civil servants; how many years had each of them been acting as assistant examiner; and if he will state whether any instructions had been issued at any time since 1936 to the examiner and the assistant examiners regarding the standard of marking of Greek, and, if so, by whom were these instructions formulated and what was the object of these instructions.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Examiners in Greek.
The present advising examiner in Greek has been acting as such for the past eight years. There were four assistant examiners in 1941, none of whom was a civil servant. One of these had acted as assistant examiner on five previous occasions; one on four; one on three and the other on one occasion. Instructions were given in 1937 to the advising examiners in certain subjects, including Greek, that a gradual raising of the standard of marking should be adopted in future at the examinations in these subjects. The instructions applied to those subjects in which the large percentage of candidates obtaining high marks suggested that the existing standard was too low, and their purpose was to ensure that a higher standard was adopted. These instructions were given in the usual manner by direction of the Secretary of the Department.
A general code of instructions is issued each year to all advising and assistant examiners, and the assistant examiners in each subject receive detailed instructions each year from the responsible advising examiner regarding the method of marking the answers to each question on the examination paper.
Will the Minister say whether the assistant examiner, who, he says, was eight years employed, had been previously employed for an additional number of years; and will he say, when he speaks of raising the standard of marking, if he means that higher marks would be given for a particular standard of answering or that a higher standard of answering would be required for a particular marking?
That a higher standard of answering, I take it, would be required for a particular number of marks. I cannot say without notice whether the advising examiner in Greek was an examiner during a preceding period.
Is the Minister quite sure that, when he speaks of a higher standard of marking, he really means a higher standard of answering?
Yes.