I think he was right as we did not have a blackboard or chalk and it would have taken too much time to organise it. I am sure the Minister is aware of the error in question 4 (a). It is quite minor but having talked to some students I know it confused them. Question 4 (a) is central to the mathematics of algebra and involves graphing a function, which is defined and students were asked to complete a table. The person who set the question was very kind because he or she produced quite a large part of the table and gave the students directions as to how they should proceed.
The X values are given as -3, -2, -1, 0, 1 and 1.5 and the function values with one exception are blank. It is a pity there was an error in the calculation used to arrive at the functional value of X = 1.5 but humans make errors and one can understand how it happened. Instead of the correct value of 8.125, 7.825 appears as the function value at 1.5. Many students would not have noticed it because all they had to do was to fill in the blanks and get the function values at -3, -2, -1, 0, 1, using 7.825. The graph would have been a little uneven at that stage and some students would have been perceptive enough to realise that the smoothness was missing and that something was wrong. It might have confused them because they would have calculated the correct value for 1.5 and then wondered whether their calculations for the rest of the points were correct. It could have destabilised them and I know that because I used to be a maths teacher.
It is very serious because, in the heat of an examination, if a student discovers this kind of thing it can be very disturbing. The Minister knows exactly what I mean because her background gives her insight into this matter. I am suggesting to the Minister that there could have been difficulties. It could have upset students, not just on that question but possibly in relation to the rest of the paper. The Minister has the ability to deal with this through her Department without creating any fuss and to ensure that students get the marks they deserve. I am sure that will happen but I want the Minister to make a statement to that effect in the House because newspapers carried stories suggesting that students were hard done by and would not receive their correct results. That was the first mistake that came to my attention.
Another matter also came to my notice which was not really an error. It concerned the Irish paper, I do not know if the Minister was made aware of it as I imagine many people did not view it as an error. The word "corn"— which we are used to because we play for corns — cups — in football matches appeared as if it was "com" because of the lettering. However, I do not think many students who looked at the context of the word would have taken it to be "com". It was mentioned five times in a paragraph and students would have realised it was "corn". It was not a serious error.
However, the matter of the French aural test disturbs me. It is hard to control because during the course of the aural test in French the tape is produced, the machine turned on and the students listen to it. The Minister has no control over the quality of the machine. Some schools have more money than others, in some cases they have wonderful machinery but in other cases they have old, basic machines. I have received reports that some schools had difficulty in hearing the tape, perhaps because the acoustics in a room were not good or for other reasons. I am sure the Minister is already aware of the difficulty but I would like her to examine the situation for next year and see if there is a way to ensure the equality of the aural test for all students. I do not know how that could be achieved. One might have to check the acoustics of every room but perhaps the machinery could be standardised.
I have been told by some people who supervised examinations in the past that rooms in big schools are often like studios. The machinery is set up in such a way that even if the tape is of poor quality, everybody can hear it perfectly. In other classrooms it is set up centrally but because the quality of the machine is poor, there is a difficulty. There is inequality in that system. I do not know how the Minister will handle it but I want her to be aware of it and perhaps examine how it can be resolved.
There was another problem with the French paper regarding a question about an individual in a comprehension piece where the individual's name was not mentioned. It would have confused students. I asked a French teacher today for her opinion and she said people who were sharp might have picked it up but that it might have confused them. It asked a question about Henri although he had not been mentioned in the original piece. I know the Minister will deal with the situation.
Will the Minister make a statement which, if she wishes, can be given to the press? This will clearly signal to people that there were a few minor errors but the Department will deal with them and students will get full value for their leaving certificates as they have done in the past. The Minister, her Department and all of us can be proud of the fact that the leaving certificate is a very well run examination. The papers and their content are always of a very high standard. I am not attempting to question the way the examination was handled.
