Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 7 October 2020
137. Deputy Pa Daly asked the Minister for Education if she will report on the way in which leaving certificate students examination results and other examination and grade related data are defined in contracts with third-parties to which her Department has outsourced grade assessments; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [29103/20]
View answerOn 8 May, the then Minister for Education and Skills announced the establishment of the Calculated Grades Executive Office in my Department following the postponement of the Leaving Certificate Examinations.
This office has led the development and implementation of the model of Calculated Grades.
Polymetrika was contracted to provide statistical and psychometric expertise, initially on the basis of contingency planning in the event of the Leaving Certificate not taking place as planned.
Polymetrika played an integral part of the development and running of the Calculated Grades model, and as such the contract for Polymetrika was extended to implement the Calculated Grades model under the pre-agreed terms of the contract. This was done following the decision of Government on 8 May 2020 to postpone the Leaving Certificate Examinations.
On registering for the Calculated Grades Student Portal, students were provided with a link to a Privacy Notice with information on what categories of personal data would be shared, and with whom. This Privacy Notice is available to view at:
https://www.education.ie/en/The-Department/Data-Protection/gdpr/parents-children/privacy-notice-students-calculated-grades-leaving-certificate-2020.pdf .
The Privacy Notice identifies Polymetrika International Inc. as one of the organisations which data would be shared with.
