Deirdre Clune
Question:11 Ms Clune asked the Minister for Education and Science the training provided to examiners in preparation for correction of examination papers in relation to problems such as dyslexia. [15538/99]
Ceisteanna–Questions. Priority Questions. - Examiner Training.
Under current arrangements, the work of candidates is assessed by using a uniform test instrument and applying a common marking scheme. Following from this approach all candidates are marked in the same manner and on the basis of what they produce during the examination. In order to ensure that the readability of a candidate's work does not result in a loss of marks, examiners are instructed to refer to the supervising examiner any script where they encounter a difficulty in accessing the material presented.
At present all examiners are fully briefed in the application of the common marking scheme for their subject and there is no variation in this scheme or the training provided. The Deputy will be, however, aware that I have recently arranged for the publication of a discussion paper on this complex and difficult area. This paper, which was prepared by the Advisory Group on Examinations, under the chairmanship of Dr. Tom Kellaghan, brings out very strongly this complexity and deals expressly with issues that arise in the case of students with specific learning difficulties. In particular, it highlights the tension within our examination system between the need for equal treatment and fairness on the one hand and on the other hand the desire to take account of human circumstances.
One of the possible future approaches identified by the advisory group is the modification of test instruments to cater for the particular needs of students such as those with a specific learning difficulty. If following full public debate and review we adopt this approach, then it will be necessary to have examiners trained to deal with any modifications in assessment.
I feel strongly that the present review is both essential and timely. The challenge is to review our present approach openly and objectively and with a full input from all interested groups. Only by doing this can we introduce changes that will command public acceptance and stand the test of time.
I welcome the idea that the Minister is committed to the training of examiners. For good or ill there was a long-standing belief that under the old system examiners were trained in this area and had a special expertise and that the marking system took account of the needs of students with dyslexia or whatever. Will the new approach be in place for the examinations in 2000, according to schedule for decision-making or the critical path to a decision which the Minister has set for himself?
That is my intention. I am determined to put in places changes for next year's examinations. I am not happy with this scenario. I met some parents and I know that this is a heart-rending situation. Under the existing system a college makes an assessment of a pupil. If the pupil or his or her parents wish to appeal it, they bring it to an appeals committee and it makes a decision. An objective process is in place, but I am not satisfied that the balance is correct in our examination system – it is not humane enough. Resulting from submissions made by the various parties to the group, I have made it clear to all and sundry that I want decisions in place for the examinations in 2000. That is my objective.
The understanding to which the Deputy alluded, that there were trained markers or that special allowances were made was a myth. I said that before in the House. No special allowances were made in the past for students who are dyslexic or students who have other learning difficulties. The new system that will emerge will have to take account of dyslexia and other learning difficulties that students may have.
Does the Minister accept that a good deal of anxiety was caused to students and parents this year because people could not understand how an examiner could distinguish between a student who had poor spelling and poor grammar and a student who had a specific learning difficulty? Is he aware that a number of schools advise pupils to mark at the top of their answer papers that they suffer from dyslexia or had been assessed as having dyslexia? Other schools went to the point of producing stickers for students to use. Will those indications at the top of answer papers make any difference?
They will not. The marking scheme, as decided at the marking conference, will be the marking scheme for all students. We have advised all examiners that where legibility and reading are a difficulty they are to forward those scripts to the senior examiners so that they can be very carefully corrected to ensure that where clear difficulties are evident in the paper that the person is not disadvantaged by that. In that sense we are taking great care, but we cannot have an ad hoc system where students can put stickers on a paper and hope to have that taken into account. Stickers of that nature will not have a bearing. There is a clear procedure in place. We must be fair to all students. There must be objective assessment procedures in place.
A system has been in place for a number of years where schools can apply on behalf of students. A psychologist assesses the student's request for assistance or longer hours, and if the student does not succeed there is an appeal system. As Minister, I cannot interfere in those proceedings. I have even had representations from my constituents and I have spoken to the people involved in the Department and so on and it is very hard to deal with parents on this issue, given the anxiety that has been caused.
I wish to clarify a point made by the Minister. He said "longer hours" but, if they are lucky enough, students only get extra minutes. Does the Minister agree that the current situation where if the examiner has difficulty reading the scripts that they are forwarded? What is the situation if the student has difficulty reading the paper?
That position is as outlined. If a student has a difficulty reading a paper, the school makes an application prior to the examinations, a psychologist is called in and he or she makes an assessment. If the psychologist's assessment is in the negative – that the student does not need a reader – the student may then appeal to an appeal committee, which will further assess the issue. If the appeal committee's assessment is negative, no further redress can be offered to the student. That is the present position, but I am not happy with it. That is why I established the advisory expert group on examinations, which has published a discussion document on this issue. I asked the advisory group to bring forward with proposals, following submissions from all the interested parties, with a view to having changes in place for the examinations in 2000.
Does the Minister believe it is acceptable that this year a student with dyslexia was considered dyslexic for the junior certificate and not dyslexic for the leaving certificate and was informed of this by a psychologist, without the presence of a parent or teacher?
It obviously depends on the age of the student. I am not a psychologist. I cannot take over the role of someone who is in the field of implementing a designed system. We can change the policy and the system. I have put a mechanism in place to change the policy. I am not entirely happy with the existing system. The balance between the humane approach—
How do they get cured?
That concludes questions.
Written Answers follow Adjournment Debate.