I am not in a position to give details of the results in question since a candidate's results in Scrúdú Cáilíochta sa Ghaeilge, SCG, cannot be disclosed to anyone other than the candidate. The candidate herself has, of course, received full details of all examinations taken by her to date, with the exception of the latest examination held last month. The results of this examination will be issued to all candidates shortly.
There are specific guidelines in place for the part of the examination dealing with Múineadh na Gaeilge. Candidates are expected to have knowledge of the teaching methods of Irish as a mother tongue and as a second language to primary school children, and of strategies to promote the use of Irish as a language of communication and as a teaching medium. The standard required to obtain a pass in the SCG is the standard of Irish which would enable teachers to teach the language to sixth class in a national school. Candidates must therefore demonstrate that they have attained the level of language competence described in the syllabus and reflected in the examination papers, and that they understand the methodology of teaching Irish as a second language.
An examination committee formulates a marking system based on the questions set in the papers for each sitting of the SCG. This marking system is applied rigorously by all examiners in marking the papers, and is also strictly adhered to in the case of re-checks.
The questions in each paper are designed to test the candidate's knowledge of methodology as set out above, having regard also to the candidate's competence in the language. Based on the information made available to me by my officials, I am satisfied that the marking system is equitable and that it is applied fairly by all examiners.
Candidates' names do not appear on their examination scripts, which are distributed among examiners on a numerical basis only. It is highly unlikely, therefore, that the same examiner would mark a candidate's papers in different examinations. It is normal, however, for all of a candidate's papers in the one examination to be marked by the same examiner.
