Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 3 Jun 1992

Vol. 420 No. 6

Adjournment Debate. - Examination Papers for Visually Impaired Students.

Mr. Browne

(Carlow-Kilkenny): Tá mé an-bhuíoch díot, a Cheann Comhairle, go bhfuil an deis seo agam labhairt ar son na ndaltaí atá dall. This is a very difficult time of year for all students but it is particularly difficult for students taking examinations through braille. I wish to highlight the difficulties posed by the junior certificate geography paper. The examination will take place on Thursday of next week and as of today the teachers of geography have not received instructions from the Department as to the changes which will be made. The sample paper supplied by the Department includes an ordnance survey map and a map showing rainfall, on which questions have to be answered. Obviously a person who cannot see a map cannot answer questions on it. A week before the examination these teachers should know what modifications will be made so that students can be prepared. The best of students can be put off if the format is changed and they are not sure what is coming up. It cannot be beyond the ingenuity of the Department of Education to devise questions that can be written out in braille. The Department should notify the teachers in schools for the blind what the modifications will be so that the children will be prepared. It is not too much to ask the Department to take action at this late hour. This problem should not have arisen.

A parent contacted me whose daughter has been studying for four years for this examination. When I contacted the school I was told that only one examination paper was supplied last year, which had to be photocopied, thereby holding up the examination. There should not be any skimping and the required number of papers should be supplied.

I was shocked to find that the principal of this school has no secretary. The school caters for over 80 students who are blind or visually impaired. It is indefensible that there is not a secretary to deal with problems. For the sake of the principal, whose sanity must be at risk, I would ask the Minister to accede to the request from parents and management that a secretary be appointed. Above all, the Minister should make sure that the geography paper is such that will give these children a fair crack of the whip.

Minister of State at the Department of Education (Mr. Alyward)

I thank my constituency colleague, Deputy Browne, for raising this matter and allowing me the opportunity to clarify it.

Question papers for the certificate examinations are provided by my Department in braille form for visually impaired candidates where requested. Where question papers are requested in braille form they must, in some instances, be modified so that, where necessary, visual elements of the papers are given in a descriptive format. For example, the picture series questions in the modern language examinations are modified in this manner. Where this is not possible as, for example, in the case of some mathematical or scientific diagrams, alternative questions of a similar standard are provided.

A further option is available in subjects where a given number of questions must be answered from a particular section of the examination paper in that visually impaired candidates may be permitted to exceed the usual limit placed on the number of questions to be answered. An example of this is in the case of leaving and junior cert geography where the Ordnance Survey question is compulsory. In the case of candidates taking the braille version they are permitted to substitute a question from the other sections of the paper i.e., physical, economic or social. I should also add in regard to geography that alternative questions are provided where a question, or a section of a question, contains a map or other visual element, that is, bar chart.

Finally, I should add that arrangements for visually impaired candidates are made in co-operation with the schools catering for these candidates and I wish to place on the record my Department's thanks and appreciation for their assistance and advice in this respect.