THE STATE Exams Commission last night defended its decision to reschedule the English exam and stressed it was doing all that was possible to minimise stress for students.
But Labour’s Ruairí Quinn said the the cancellation of the examinations was an educational “debacle” that should never have happened. He said the rescheduling would be deeply upsetting for students and their parents.
In a statement, the commission said the compromised papers have been replaced and the Leaving Certificate English paper 2 examinations will now take place on Saturday, June 6th, from 9.30am to 12.50pm.
This decision, it says, was taken following contact with the Education Partners . “This is the earliest opportunity that the papers could be rescheduled because of the significant logistical difficulties in getting alternative papers to over 2,000 examination centres in about 800 schools and examination halls nationwide.
“The candidate is at the centre of our considerations and we are doing all that is possible to minimise stress and concerns for them and their families at this time. While the commission was reluctant to make any changes to the timetable, particularly given that the examinations have commenced, this is the only option open to us when the integrity of the English examination has been compromised.”
Last night, Minister for Education Batt O’ Keeffe welcomed “the fact that the focus of the commission in addressing the problem that has now arisen is on meeting the best interests of the students while protecting the integrity of the Leaving Certificate.”
He said the decision to reschedule the exam has, by necessity, been taken in a very restricted time frame.
“Nonetheless, it has been taken in full consultation with the education partners.”
Mr O’Keeffe also said his department was making arrangements with Bus Éireann to ensure the provision of the regular weekday post-primary school transport service on Saturday.
Mr Quinn said the Minister must seek a full explanation from the commission and a commitment that procedures will be put in place to ensure that such an error can never happen again.
“While there will be additional cost to the taxpayer arising from the forced rescheduling of the exams and parents will be furious, the principal concern must be the implications for the tens of thousands of students who were due to sit these papers tomorrow.
“Students have been preparing for these exams for two years and have organised their study and revision programmes in accordance with the exam timetable there were given at the beginning of the academic years. Now they are going to have to totally refocus their efforts.
“It is hard to believe how an error like this could have been made. I would have assumed that there would have been fail-safe procedures in place to prevent such an occurrence happening.
Fine Gael education spokesman Brian Hayes TD described the cancellation as “a farcical cock-up”, and he said the Minister had a number of questions to answer.
“The inconvenience and additional pressure on students cannot be overstated. The contingency exam on Saturday will dramatically change study patterns and students will feel an incredible amount of undue stress.”
Message boards
“Apparently LC English paper 2 has been leaked. Not sure if they have time to bring in the back ups.”
“I just got the same text, or at least something very similar - MB question is deception, Cultural Context, Keats, Longley, Walcott.
Phic said “Yeah i got the same text . . . as much as I wish it was true, it’s not.”
Koushki said ha, i got that text too “my mates mates other mate” type thing.
Lorna1100 said “the text I got was from a mate whos friends whith someone in some school in droheda, it was her class that got handed the wrong papers, and that deception, walcott and bishop are on it. It was warning me that they have different papers set in case things like that happen, and to be careful in case they use the different paper.
Students and their parents can contact a special exam helpline 1800-713913 or see examinations.ie for further information.
