Exam changed after crash

THE State Examinations Commission reprinted 45,000 Leaving Certificate English papers because pictures on the original exam might have caused upset after the Navan school bus crash, it emerged last night.

The decision was taken on May 26, three days after the crash which claimed five girls’ lives. It followed a review of all papers, ordered in view of the scale of the tragedy and its proximity to the Junior and Leaving Certificate exams.

While details of the material which caused concern on English Paper I were not available last night, it is understood it may have related to one or more pictures on the original paper.

An SEC statement said it included both visual and written material that might prove disturbing to some candidates in the particular circumstances.

“It is considered that the action taken reflects the sensitivity and mindfulness of the commission in response to the events in Navan,” a spokesperson said.

The SEC had been criticised this week for not replacing a Junior Certificate English essay title about travelling on the school bus. But National Parents Council Post Primary president Eleanor Petrie last night said the fact that the Leaving Certificate paper had been replaced showed that some compassion had been used.

“But I can’t understand why they would take something out of the two Leaving Certificate papers and then leave something else on the Junior Certificate papers,” she said.

The SEC had ordered an essay title about road accidents on Thursday’s ordinary level Leaving Certificate Irish paper to be covered with marker at the four secondary schools in Navan whose students were affected by last month’s crash.