Exam news: For the second day in succession, the State exams commission was involved in controversy after it set an essay question on road accidents in a Leaving Cert Irish (ordinary level) paper yesterday.
In an unprecedented move, staff from the commission erased the offending question from the exam paper only hours before distributing them to students in the four schools in Navan, Co Meath, which were affected by the recent tragedy. Instead, these students were set a question about television.
The controversy came the day after the commission was widely criticised for setting a question on "travelling on the school bus" in a Junior Cert English paper on Wednesday.
Minister for Education Mary Hanafin last night welcomed the sensitivity of the commission in dealing with the latest controversy yesterday. Ms Hanafin has already sought a report on the Junior Cert controversy.
However her capacity to intervene is limited because the exams commission is independent of the department.
The commission's decision to set a different question for one group of students is unprecedented.
While welcoming the commission's quick response, some education sources said their action could open a Pandora's box and possibly even invite legal action. This is because the same paper should be set for every student taking any State exam.
Yesterday, students were asked to write an essay one one topic from a choice of three. One of these was "Timpistí bóthair" (road accidents).
The commission said it made a slight modification to the examination paper for candidates taking this examination in the four second-level schools in Navan, Co Meath.
In the modified paper, "Timpistí bóthair" (road accidents) was substituted with "An Teilifís" (television).
Last night, the commission said the decision to alter the paper was made "in recognition of the upset experienced by candidates in these schools following the inclusion in yesterday's Junior Certificate ordinary level English paper 1 of the composition topic 'Travelling on the School Bus'."
The commission said any upset caused to any candidate as a result of the inclusion of this composition topic was certainly not intended. It said it was now "reviewing the context in which examination papers are set in the future".
The exams commission, based in Athlone, was established two years ago as part of a move to give the department "more breathing space" to focus on policy issues. Its establishment was a response to controversy a decade ago when sections from an art exam were leaked.
Until this week, the exams commission has been widely praised for its smooth handling of the exams and the high level of security which surrounds them.
