THE Minister for Education has promised to implement as soon as possible the recommendations of the Price Waterhouse report on errors in last year's Leaving Certificate art exam.
However, Ms Breathnach told the Dail last night that many of the 100 recommendations were now defunct as they had been based on the premise that students' craft work would be sent to the Department's exams branch in Athlone. It has since been decided that it will be examined in the schools.
During last night's Dail debate the report was entered into the record of the House, thereby qualifying it for legal privilege. It was circulated to members of the Oireachtas on Tuesday, but not published, because of legal fears over its contents.
The Association of Secondary Teachers, Ireland (ASTI) yesterday called for additional resources to help restore public confidence in the exam system. These would be used to introduce "high reliability and fail safe procedures" involving extra checking and appeals arrangements.
"Examining is an art and not a science. No exam system in the world is immune to error, be it human or computerised", the union said in a statement.
"Given that 1.3 million items have to be accounted for in a short timescale, the number of mistakes is very low. Statements which suggest that the exams system is a shambles are opportunistic and unfortunate."
Parents, students and teachers at the Ursuline College in Sligo were briefed on the report by a senior official of the Department on Tuesday night. However, they were not given a copy of it. According to one participant, the parents learned "nothing new". It is understood that the parents are now taking legal advice on what to do.
