Changes to State Examinations assistance scheme welcomed

Changes have been agreed to a scheme that provides special assistance for students with learning difficulties or other issues when they sit the State exams, after a series of complaints in recent years.

The State Examinations Commission has agreed to amend aspects of the RACE (Reasonable Accommodations at Certificate Examinations) scheme, which allows such pupils to compete on an equal basis with other students.

Supports include providing someone to read the exam paper for a student with a visual impairment and the provision of specialised computer equipment to assist students with a reading or writing difficulty.

Ombudsman Peter Tyndall's office received 70 complaints in 2015 and 52 this year from students aged 18 and above about the scheme.

These included a complaint, a week before the State exams commenced, from a woman that her daughter’s application under the RACE scheme to use a word processor during her Leaving Certificate had been refused.

The young woman had a developmental co-ordination disorder which made it difficult for her to write by hand for long periods of time. As she had been using a word processor throughout the school year, she was not used to writing for long periods.

During the Ombudsman’s examination, the mother said that her daughter had scoliosis but that she had not informed the commission. The SEC immediately reviewed her application on foot of contact from the Ombudsman and the girl was granted approval to use a word processor four days before the exams began.

From next year, the SEC will automatically grant assistance at Leaving Certificate level if the student received it for their Junior Certificate.

The SEC changes also mean students with learning difficulties will not need a diagnosis to be eligible for RACE.

“When we saw the nature of the complaints about RACE we decided to work with the SEC to sort out the problems,” Mr Tyndall said.

“In some cases we were able to resolve the complaint despite receiving it only days before a student’s exam. However, I was also anxious to ensure that there was a long term solution which meant that we would not be seeing so many complaints at the last moment each year. I am delighted that the SEC has responded by making these changes which will reduce the needless stress on students who are already going through a relatively stressful event.”

Ombudsman for Children, Dr Niall Muldoon, who deals with complaints from those under 18 years of age, also welcomed the changes.

He said the changes reflected directly the recommendations made by his office in a report in June.