Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)

As the Deputy will be aware, the Government has shown an unrivalled commitment to ensuring that children and young people with special needs get the extra support they need to reach their full potential at school. We have dramatically expanded investment in special education in recent years, and we have improved access to the state examinations for young people with special needs.

A range of accommodations is provided to enable students with disabilities to take advantage of the certificate examinations. For example enlarged print, Braille translation, modified questions, use of a scribe, a reader, a personal assistant, a tape recorder or word-processor may be allowed, depending on needs.

The scheme was expanded in 2000, following the report of an expert advisory group, to provide opportunities for exemptions where a candidate was not in a position to demonstrate achievement in a core area of assessment. In keeping with the advice of the expert advisory group, a system of annotation was applied to any case where a student was exempt from a core area of assessment, or where the mode of assessment used had the same effect.

That change, for example, enabled a hearing-impaired student to be exempt for the first time from the aural component of language subjects. His or her marks on the balance of the examination would be extrapolated proportionately, and the certificate would include a note to the effect that all elements of the subject were assessed except the aural component. Spelling and grammar waivers in language subjects were provided to cater for students with dyslexia on a similar basis, with annotation of the certificates.

The aim of those changes was to facilitate the operation of a responsive and flexible system that enabled all candidates to demonstrate their achievements, while preserving the integrity and fairness of the examinations by ensuring that special arrangements were operated in a transparent manner.

The introduction of the expanded scheme was seen as important in widening access and promoting optimum participation among students with disabilities. Since then, the number of students availing themselves of accommodations in the certificate examinations has grown dramatically. Some 4,438 accommodations were granted in 2002, including 39 component exemptions and 1,945 spelling and grammar waivers. By 2006, that number had increased to 12,136 accommodations, including 987 component exemptions, and 5,450 spelling and grammar waivers.

Annotations on certificates apply only in situations where a core area of a subject is not assessed, or where the mode of assessment used has the same effect. That is used to ensure fairness and integrity vis-À-vis other students who have been assessed on those components, and in order not to mislead the end user of the certificate.

Regarding the Equality Tribunal's findings, the legal position is that they must either be implemented in full or appealed against within the specified timeframe under the Equal Status Act 2002. My Department has examined the findings and is concerned both that the widening of access through the use of exemptions coupled with annotations has not been fully understood in this case and that the fundamental nature of the accommodations being provided has been questioned. It has therefore been decided to appeal the findings to the Circuit Court.

I have also asked the State Examinations Commission to re-examine policy and practice in the area. It is important that our system continue to evolve in line with best practice, promoting high standards of quality and integrity while guaranteeing access, participation and benefit for all our students. I do not anticipate that changes will be made to practice in the area before the outcome of the review and the findings regarding the appeal.

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