asked the Minister for Education the immediate action she proposes to take in order to assure students presently taking the intermediate and leaving certificate examinations that they will be treated fairly in the correction of public examinations in the light of the information published in the media today that at least 57 printing errors or misprints in 44 examination papers have already been discovered.
Private Notice Question. - Printer's Errors in Examination Papers.
The printing errors or misprints referred to in the question are covered by the errata list supplied to each examination superintendent. There is an errata list prepared each year for the public examinations. At the beginning of each examination the superintendent refers to the errata list for that particular session. If there is an error in this errata list, the superintendent calls it out, and the candidate makes the necessary amendment on his or her examination papers. The question of special treatment in the marking would therefore not arise through some mischance the superintendent did not call out the appropriate amendment. I can assure the House and indeed parents of pupils that all candidates will be treated fairly in the marking of the public examinations.
I did not put down this question in any sense whatsoever to attempt to embarrass the Minister. I am well aware that these examination papers were printed, for the most part, before the Minister took up her responsibilities. Because of the fact that there was a previous error where the word "or" was missing from a crucial, large question in one of the papers; because there was ambivalance last week about the word "creditor" in an accountancy paper; because most seriously the correction slip, to which the Minister referred, supplied by the Department to supervisors was itself wrong in two further cases, because of all these difficulties I believe there should be a special inquiry by the Minister in her Department into the way the whole operation of the printing, proof reading and correction of examination papers is carried on.
I am glad Deputy Hussey acknowledged that the examination papers were prepared as far back as last January. I was not going to bring it up but I am glad the Deputy acknowledged it. On the errata to which the Deputy has referred, first of all, the omission of “or”, I answered that question very fully one night in an Adjournment Debate lasting half an hour and that is on the record. With regard to the accountancy error referring to the creditor/debtor which was not included on the errata list, I can assure the candidates and the House that this error will be taken into account in the marking. Again, I assure the House that I have given the closest possible attention to the examinations since they commenced and I am absolutely determined, as are the officials in my Department, that equity of treatment and, above all, a system of fairness will appertain in the marking of these examinations.
I accept the Minister's wish to see that the examinations are of the highest standard but, in view of what I called out in my question and the additional errors we are now aware of, due to the good offices of Christina Murphy in The Irish Times. I ask the Minister if she will make public the steps she will now take to safeguard the standards and the integrity of the examinations, so that next year we will not have this kind of error and misprint causing widespread confusion?
It is interesting to note that the rate of errata in this year was more or less comparable to the rate of errata in last year's examination, give or take a few more.
It is not satisfactory to call out that it was somebody else's fault. We want to get it right. Let us not make political hay out of it.
A Cheann Comhairle: I was not allowed to answer. I do not intend to get——
I hope that this matter will be dealt with in an orderly fashion. The Minister, without interruption.
I pointed out to Deputy Hussey that the number of errata unfortunately indeed seems to be at the same rate this year as in other years. The whole conduct and operation of the examinations is a huge complex operation, one involving enormous skill, ingenuity and work by my Department and by all the various educational agencies throughout the country. Immense effort is called for and immense effort is given, and there is integrity at all levels. Because of the necessity for secrecy the number of proof readers, as the Deputy knows, quite well, has to be very small because it is all done by people and the number involved must remain very small. The people involved both in the Examinations Branch in Athlone and here at the Department in Dublin work extremely hard to carry out this complex operation on behalf of the young people, their parents and the public in general. I am very satisfied that the measures we have taken, and will continue to take, through the examination systems which we have set up for the superintendents and for the supervisors of superintendents will aim to bring out a comprehensive method whereby the errata and the various matters arising from them will be attended to with great care. I assure the House that I will be taking a personal interest in that matter. It would not be in the interests of anybody that we would make a public statement at this point as to the methods we will devise for our various marking schemes to cope with the system.
In view of the very long answer with its quite unnecessary detail from the Minister, I think it is quite unsatisfactory that she refuses to have a special inquiry carried out.
A question, please.
In view of the chaos which obviously is caused not by the lack of efficiency of the Department but because they are labouring under the great difficulties of such increased numbers every year, does the Minister not agree that this chaos points irrevocably to the establishment of the Curriculum and Examinations Board with responsibility for examinations? That is a very important point.
I now see the point of the Deputy's question. I do not intend to go into that matter. It is an entirely separate issue but it makes very clear to me the reason why the Deputy has been so assiduous or busy about putting down her various questions in this regard. It makes matters very clear why the Deputy is pursuing this. Let me say to the public at large that I have the utmost confidence in my staff in the Department here in Dublin and in Athlone, who are carrying out on behalf of the public, the teachers, the young people and parents, a very comprehensive job in the compiling and issuing of the examination results.
I gave a comprehensive answer because I think it is in the interests of all that I am fully briefed and fully responsible to this Dáil for this question. I accept my responsibilities utterly. I think the responsibilities of a Minister is paramount in issues such as this.