Examination errors attributed to staffing difficulties

Long delays in filling vacancies may have added to staffing difficulties that the State Examinations Commission claim contributed to the unusually high number of mistakes in this year’s Junior and Leaving Certificate.

Students have called for the SEC to be properly staffed to ensure continued confidence in the system after a range of mistakes in the exams that were the subject of a report to Education Minister Ruairi Quinn published yesterday.

Department of Education funding for the SEC has been cut from €71m to €52m since 2008, and the total staff it is allowed under public service employment controls have fallen 7% from 161 to 150 since 2010.