The Department of Education will decide next week whether to release full Leaving Certificate results to students from a Co Meath school - following allegations that their teacher may have leaked part of the Irish exam.
A Garda investigation is taking place into the allegations, and the Department's chief examiner in Irish is assessing whether the students performed significantly better in the aural part of the honours exam - and whether their results for this section are out of kilter with the national average. The Department is due to send Leaving Cert results to schools by August 15th. Last night sources said the results would probably proceed in the normal way. The aural exam accounts for a sixth of the marks in Irish.
Two years ago a Department inquiry found that students gained no advantage after an examiner accidentally distributed an Irish paper at a school in west Cork. The results were issued in the normal way. Two separate inquiries are now under way into the alleged leak - the Garda inquiry and the Department of Education inquiry.
The Garda inquiry began soon after the Irish exam on June 9th, after a parent contacted the Department expressing concern about an apparent leak. The parent claimed that students in a Co Meath school had prior knowledge of the aural Irish exam. The allegation is that the teacher was able to "coach" pupils on the test before the exam.
Aural exams, designed to test language comprehension, are set in all language subjects except English. Only a small number of people would have access to the tapes, which are prepared by the chief examiner in each subject and a small team. The tapes are then manufactured by a private company and sent to schools. This year, tapes in Irish were sent to the 2,200 exam centres.
The inquiry is focusing on all possible sources of the alleged leak including the Department and others who worked on its preparation and manufacture. Gardai have also examined notes on the test which were allegedly given by the Co Meath teacher to pupils some weeks before the Irish exam.
The Minister for Education, Dr Woods, yesterday confirmed an Irish Independent report that his Department received an allegation concerning possible prior disclosure of elements of the aural exam in Irish. The allegations relate to one teacher in one school, he stressed.
Prior disclosure of exam material is a criminal offence under the 1998 Education Act. Those convicted on such charges face a fine of up to £5,000 or imprisonment of up to two years.
The leak allegations come when the Department of Education has been quite successful in rebuilding public confidence in the exam system, damaged some years ago when part of the Leaving Cert Art exam disappeared. The exam system is now more transparent, with students able to examine how their scripts were corrected and request a recheck if necessary.