Michael Creed
Ceist:47 Mr. Creed asked the Minister for Education and Science if he has satisfied himself that he can recruit sufficient supervisors and examiners for the junior and leaving certificate examinations in 2001. [12401/01]
Priority Questions. - State Examinations.
I assure the Deputy and all students and their parents that the 2001 certificate examinations will proceed as scheduled. I confirm that there are sufficient supervisors and examiners available to ensure both the running and marking of the examinations. The quality of the staff recruited to supervise and mark the examinations will ensure that standards will be maintained. It is essential that the high reputation enjoyed by our public examinations continues and that public confidence in the examination system is maintained.
That sounds like a long-playing record. We heard, at the height of the ASTI dispute, that the Minister had adequate contingency plans. Is the Minister not aware that, even in an environment of full co-operation from all the teachers' unions, many of the practical examinations are not being carried out with the efficiency the Minister's response suggests? Let me draw the Minister's attention specifically to the issue facing numerous students at junior and leaving certificate level in regard to the home economics practical examinations, where practical examinations which had been arranged failed to be undertaken because of an insufficiency of examiners.
Does the Minister accept that one of the lessons to be learned from the ASTI dispute is the need to remove from the Department of Education and Science responsibility for organising, administering, supervising and examining the junior and leaving certificate examinations? This was flagged in the Deloitte & Touche report and more recently in the Cromien report. Has the Minister any proposals to bring before the House in that regard?
Given that numerous students all over the country lost in the region of 15 days tuition because of the ASTI dispute, has the Minister any proposals to bring to the attention of examiners of junior and leaving certificate scripts that certain students will be at a distinct disadvantage relative to some of their counterparts? What proposals has the Minister to rectify that?
The Deputy says my reiteration of the fact that the examinations will take place sounds like a long-playing record. I said in the beginning that I had contingency plans and that I began to make them in October. I was criticised for starting to make contingency arrangements in February, but I began in October.
The Minister's routine plans are not working, not to mind his contingency plans.
I saw the Deputy's press statement and heard what he said here. It was very unwise of him to put that out.
It is a fact.
I do not know whether it was the Deputy or the Fine Gael press office that did it but the effect was to create a scare so that I had to put out a statement telling students to ignore it.
I asked about the home economics practical examinations.
The vast majority of the 21,000 examination candidates concerned will be examined in the period to 4 May.
Not all of them.
A small number will be left over.
How many?
It is only a small number. I will get the figures for the Deputy. We will not know the numbers until they are finished because it depends on the numbers in the schools. They will be looked after immediately after that date. This is not a new problem. The Deputy has confused it with the current dispute, which was very foolish of him.
I am not confusing it with the dispute. I am saying the students have been misinformed because the Minister has informed the schools that these examinations would take place, and they are not taking place.
This problem is similar to one which occurred last year. It had nothing to do with this dispute. Deputy Creed threw it in.
The responsibility should be taken from the Department.
That is a different question which I will answer in a moment.
It is not. The Department is unable to organise them.
I was annoyed that the Deputy scared some of the pupils by saying things could not be done when they are being done just as they were done last year.
The Department failed to organise the examinations.
A small number of students may not be examined this week – we will not know how many until the end of the week – but they will be examined subsequently. Arrangements have been made with the schools to do that. The Deputy should withdraw what he said and let other students know that there is no difficulty and no change from last year in that respect. The other examinations are proceeding. By the end of this week the oral and practical examinations will have been completed. There is a problem, as there was last year, in respect of home economics, and those examinations will be completed after the end of this week. That is the only issue and it is a very small one relatively speaking. I would not like pupils to think that there is a problem with the examinations generally. They know by now that their examinations are organised. I thank the teachers involved for co-operating and ensuring that the oral and practical examinations would be run and completed by Friday, with that small exception, which will be dealt with subsequently.
How many other hiccups will there be?
The main problem was that the Department suggested, and made arrangements earlier in that regard, that the number covered in home economics would be between ten and 12.
Will there be time for another supplementary question, a Cheann Comhairle?
The time for this question is up. We should proceed to the next question.
The TUI advised its members not to do 12 at a time.
The Minister is using up the time but he is saying nothing.
I will allow a brief supplementary question.
Does the Deputy want to know the reason for the problem?
The Minister seems to be suggesting that because it is a small number, it is in some way acceptable. That it happened last year and has happened again this year highlights the fact that the Department is, for one reason or other, unable to organise the examinations in an efficient manner.
That is typical rubbish.
Does the Minister accept that it is now time to establish an independent examinations body and to look at remuneration for examiners because it is entirely inadequate?
I call Question No. 48.
As far as the pupils are concerned, I do not want to see this happen to any pupils. Of the hundreds of thousands of examinations going on, the Deputy has picked a couple where there were a few problems last year and where there is still a problem this year.
The pupils are expendable in the Minister's eyes.
The Deputy is creating a scare. That is about the level of Fine Gael at this stage. The Deputy could have done a bit better.