Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 26 Jun 2002

Vol. 553 No. 6

Written Answers. - State Examinations.

Ned O'Keeffe

Question:

184 Mr. N. O'Keeffe asked the Minister for Education and Science the action he proposes to take in relation to the leaving certificate biology examination paper following the serious dissatisfaction amongst students, teachers and parents. [14947/02]

Minister for Education and Science (Mr. N. Dempsey)

Mechanisms are already in place to take on board genuine concerns which interested parties, including schools, parents and students, might have in relation to the examinations and I want to make it clear that it would be inappropriate for me or any Minister to interfere in the work of the chief examiners and the examining teams. When an examination paper is being finalised, care is taken to ensure that the questions are based on the syllabus content. The examination paper in a given year does not ask questions on each and every topic within a syllabus. There are changes from year to year in the range of topics examined, and from time to time in the type of question used to examine aspects of a given topic. The current biology syllabus is presented in ten sections and no section of the syllabus was omitted from the higher level examination paper in 2002.

All those who had comments or observations to make on any aspect of the leaving certificate higher level biology examination paper were advised to outline their concerns in writing and send them in to the examinations branch of my Department for the attention of the chief examiner in biology. In addition to any individual observations submitted, subject associations and the teacher unions regularly provide observations on question paper content to the Department in advance of each marking conference.

All observations received in relation to a subject are made available to the chief examiner for consideration in the context of preparing the marking scheme for that subject. The marking scheme is finalised at the marking conference by the chief examiner and the team of examiners who are drawn from the teachers of the subject. In the case of biology, experienced teachers, acting as assistant examiners, have been able to input their own considered views into the framing of the marking scheme. Careful testing of the marking scheme is undertaken using randomly selected scripts prior to its finalisation and application to all scripts.

As it has been the practice for a number of years to publish the detailed marking schemes ultimately used in the marking process, all interested parties will be able to satisfy themselves in relation to the marking process that applies in the case of biology this year. Furthermore, any candidate who chooses to view his or her marked scripts will have access to the marking scheme and will be able to see at first hand precisely how the marking scheme applied in his or her case. Because of the concerns raised this year, I have arranged that a chief examiner's report will be published in respect of this year's examination in biology.