Vol. 496 No. 3
403 Mr. R. Bruton asked the Minister for Education and Science the changes, if any, proposed for the treatment of children with dyslexia or other communication difficulties who sit certificate examinations; if he will give details of the proposed changes; the consultations, if any, he had with experts and partners in education before implementing these changes; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22356/98]
Traditionally, where a concern has been expressed regarding the readability of material, this has been brought to the attention of the individual examiner. However, in the event of an examiner encountering difficulty in reading the script, the examiner is instructed to send the answerbook to his or her supervising examiner. This is to ensure that, notwithstanding any presentational or readability difficulties, every effort is made by the examiner or supervising examiner to ensure that the candidate is given full credit for all work done.
For any one subject a common marking scheme is applied to the work of all candidates taking the subject regardless of whether the candidate has a specific learning difficulty or physical impairment which might cause difficulties with the presentation and ultimate readability of material presented for examination.
This year my Department has moved to strengthen this arrangement by instructing all examiners who have a difficulty in accessing the information given by a candidate to refer the script to their supervising examiner. The intention is to ensure that problems with readability whether or not brought to the attention of the Department are dealt with by the examiner and that no candidate is disadvantaged. The change is operational in nature and as I have already explained does not involve any change in the actual marking of examination material submitted by students with specific learning difficulties. Every effort will continue to be made to ensure that full credit is given for work presented and in 1999 examiners will, as in previous years, be required to apply the agreed marking schemes consistently to all candidates in order to ensure equity and fairness.
