THE STATE Examinations Commission has condemned the actions of the exam superintendent who wrongly distributed a Leaving Certificate English paper to students last June and failed to report his error to any authority.
The commission report on the incident, published yesterday by Minister for Education Batt O’Keeffe, found that the superintendent failed to follow any of the mandatory procedures for distributing exam papers.
The report found that the integrity of the examination had been “significantly compromised” when the paper had been handed out in error, and the fact that the commission was only notified almost seven hours after the incidents “severely curtailed” the possibility of getting the replacement paper out on time.
“Had the security breach been reported to the SEC immediately it occurred, or to the SEC official who visited the centre at about 10am on June 3rd, the SEC would have had the opportunity to arrange for the alternative paper to be taken by the candidates at the scheduled time on June 4th,” the report found.
The SEC found that none of the procedures for handling exam papers – such as checking that the packet of exam papers was for the correct exam before opening, formally signing that the correct checks had been performed, and having two students countersign that the packet was the correct one – was carried out.
It also found that the superintendent had taken it upon himself to start the exam more than 10 minutes before the official start time of 9.30am. The report does not recommend any action be taken in relation to the superintendent in question.
The superintendent, a retired teacher understood to be in his 60s, could not be contacted at his Dundalk home yesterday. However, the SEC official who interviewed him after the incident states in the report that he accepted on reflection that he should have reported the error.
The superintendent was “most upset” about the incident and “very contrite”, the official said.
Leaving Certificate English Paper 2 was mistakenly distributed instead of Paper 1 at the exam centre in St Oliver’s Community College, Drogheda, on the morning of Wednesday, June 3rd. The superintendent realised his error within 30 seconds, collected Paper 2 and handed out the correct papers.
The SEC subsequently monitored a number of exam-related websites and found that details of a number of questions were known.
An Post was contacted to see if the replacement paper could be distributed in time for the scheduled Paper 2 exam at 9.30am on June 4th, but it was not possible to guarantee delivery to all schools, the report said. The exam was deferred instead until Saturday, June 6th.
