Examinations blunder - Murphy’s Law at work

The postponement of the second English paper for Leaving Certificate examinations yesterday probably attracted more attention because of the moratorium on political coverage in the media.

The previous day the examination superintendent gave out the second paper by mistake. The mistake was quickly noticed, and the correct paper was then distributed. The 15 students involved had sufficient time to see the other paper to give them an unfair advantage.

Some then contacted friends in other schools and the grapevine of modern technology meant that the examination process was seriously compromised for the 50,000 students due to sit that paper.

To prevent such a thing happening, the superintendent and two other people were supposed to check and sign to ensure that the correct paper was being opened.

In this instance the other two people were examination candidates, obviously with other things on their minds. Fortunately, the examination itself was not actually compromised as all the students will be writing on a revised examination paper tomorrow.

Students sitting the examination got practical experience of one of the laws of Irish life – Murphy’s Law, which proclaims that if anything can go wrong, it will.