Investigation begins into exam paper blunder
A major investigation is under way to probe how an official handed out the wrong exam paper to Leaving Cert students.
A superintendent supervising the exam hall in St Oliver’s Community College in Drogheda yesterday morning failed to inform the State Examinations Commission (SEC) of the blunder.
Authorities were finally alerted almost seven hours later by the school’s principal after he was approached by concerned parents.
The superintendent, who is believed to be an experienced exams supervisor and not a member of the school’s staff, has been suspended.
He is now the subject of a major investigation by the SEC because of the embarrassing error which thousands of students found out about via online exam message boards.
The English Paper Two, which the superintendent mistook for Paper One, has now been rescheduled for Saturday morning in all exam halls but other problems may be encountered such as Jewish students observing the Sabbath may not wish to participate.
Notices will be placed in tomorrow’s newspapers to inform pupils of the exam timetable changes.
A SEC spokeswoman said: “The advice we have told them is to study in the normal way. The paper is based on the curriculum and the questions are based on that.”
A helpline, 1800 713 913, which has already received thousands of calls, is open from 7am to midnight.
A questions and answers page for worried pupils has also been posted on the SEC website, www.examinations.ie.
It is understood a handful of Jewish pupils are sitting the Leaving Cert in Ireland this year and some may not wish to take the exam on Saturday morning, the Sabbath.
“We know that there are religious issues and we are taking advice on that at the moment and we are seeing how we can accommodate those pupils,” the SEC spokeswoman said.
Students saw the English paper for up to a minute but long enough to be able to absorb significant key information, according to the SEC.
New papers are being printed and distributed to 2,000 exam centres within 800 schools across the country in time for Saturday morning.
Bus Éireann and Irish Rail are running weekday services to transport students to their exam halls.
The SEC said each of its 4,500 superintendents is issued with written instructions and a training DVD before state exams.
Additional training and briefing sessions are also provided to first-time officials.
“Ultimately the responsibility must lie with the individual superintendent, who is the SEC’s last line in quality control and those superintendents are the responsibility of the SEC,” said the SEC spokeswoman.
Both the SEC and Education Minister Batt O’Keeffe apologised for the error and for placing extra stress on exam students.
“However we also must protect the integrity of the state examinations and that is why we have taken this decision,” the SEC said.
