I thank the Minister for her response. I welcome the news that she has spoken to the State Examinations Commission about this matter and that it has confirmed to her that it will assess the difficulty level that students experienced in the paper, reflect that in the marking scheme, which it will adjust accordingly to ensure the bell curve, as such, is not out of sync, and that students will get a fair mark and are not unduly punished as a result of the difficulty level of the paper. I am sure, as Minister for Education and Skills, the Minister had the same experience as me, an Opposition spokesperson, on the Friday evening and night after the ordinary level mathematics paper 1 was completed. I received telephone calls until very late that night from distressed parents who had also very distressed students on their hands. The students were taken aback and shocked by the difficulty level and some of the questions on the paper. It was a good job it was a Friday and not a weekday because at least they had the weekend to compose themselves and recover. Thankfully the ordinary level mathematics paper 2 was much more doable and the feedback was quite good. Many students were reassured by that paper.
To ensure a similar experience is not repeated in future years, has the Minister asked the State Examinations Commission to examine how it came to be that such a difficult paper, as regarded by students, was set?
