Sean Barrett (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister to the House. We are all on the same side. Not that long ago the Minister wished 116,845 people good luck in the examinations. We had a very good discussion in the House yesterday but it was overshadowed by much less creative events.

Mistakes were made and the apologies so far have been like those give by one senior counsel to another. This is the State apologising to 15 year olds and a little more sympathy is required. I know this is the Minister's nature because I have known him for such a long time. People do not want to apologise because they are afraid they may end up in court. This involves young people who are under great stress, as Senator Clune stated. We should consider some forms of redress also. The apology stated that these errors may have caused some distress and confusion. They did so and the word "may" should be removed. This is a stressful period. The Minister is trying to tell other education stories other than on exams and it is unfortunate this happened.

Two mistakes were made in question 8 but the apology was for an error. The apology also states no candidate will be disadvantaged by the more significant error. The two errors were with regard to an internal angle and an external angle. The Minister is an architect and Senator Clune is an engineer and it is a pity we did not have such expertise to correct the errors.

The ordinary level paper for project maths also contained two mistakes as it contained two items which were not on the syllabus in questions 5(b) and 5(c) and only one has been apologised for. No apology has been issued with regard to question 6(b) on the ordinary paper, which 40,000 students took. They were asked to construct an axial symmetry which was not on the syllabus. The junior certificate exam also contained a typo as one of the questions should have read -1 -4 and not the two put together -14. The statement apologised for some of the errors to the 15,000 students who sat the leaving certificate higher level paper 2, to the 1,276 students who sat the ordinary paper, the 2,441 who sat the foundation paper and the 1,500 who sat the junior certificate paper. Another 30,000 were a victim of another junior certificate error and another 40,000 students should have an apology for the axial symmetry question.

The custom is that when errors are made they are read out before the exam starts. We must do away with this. The exam is tense enough without students wondering what they heard. If there is a written error the correction should be in writing. Erratum slips are inserted into publications and this should be the practice for exams. We must liaise much more with the mathematics teachers' association. We need them involved in the proof reading and printing. With the support of everyone in the Oireachtas, including this House, the Government has the goal of having science and technology as the way to go. Another disturbing report has been issued today by the Educational Research Centre about our deficiencies in this regard. What happened in the exam does not help with an important national goal which we all share.

This must be corrected. The 116,000 students affected want redress. I would give full marks to anybody who attempted question 8. The apology stated every effort will be made to ensure no candidates will be disadvantaged by the more significant error in question but two errors were made. This subject gives bonus points for getting into high point faculties. I know the Minister has other ideas about this, and we share them, but at present these points are needed and we are causing distress to 116,000 students. Perhaps the State Examinations Commission should have been less legalistic and more altruistic and sympathetic, as we all are, towards 14 to 18 year olds at this difficult time in their careers.