A LEAVING Certificate student whose class was prescribed an incorrect text for her English examination has criticised the State Examination Commission (SEC) for its handling of the case.
Emily Straeter (18), Dunmore Community School, Galway, made an appeal to the SEC with 13 of her classmates over the school's mistaken prescription of a novel, which was not on the syllabus, for the exam in 2007.
Only one of the 14 students was upgraded on foot of the appeal. Ms Straeter was one of the unsuccessful appellants.
As a result, she is unable to secure a place at a the University of Cologne in Germany which requires an A grade in ordinary level English. Ms Straeter, who took the exam in 2007, got a B3.
Dunmore Community School prescribed a novel - Circle of Friendsby Maeve Binchy - for one class but this was not on the syllabus for the exam in 2007.
The error came to light when Ms Straeter viewed her paper in August of last year. This showed that she originally got an A2 but this was downgraded to a B3 by a more senior corrector. She was given no credit by the examiner for any material written about Circle of Friendsand that part of her answer was described as invalid.
For almost a year, Ms Straeter has been looking to the State Examination Commission or the Department of Education to take corrective action.
In a letter to Ms Straeter's parents last October, the SEC's director of operations, Aidan Farrell wrote: "I regret that the commission cannot operate a different marking scheme for Emily or the other ordinary level English candidates in question in her school."
In a letter to the school, the chief inspector of the Department of Education, Eamonn Stack, ordered a full report and instructed the principal to "ensure that such a situation will not recur in any subject or programme offered by the school."
The error was first investigated by the board of management of Dunmore school.
Last November it concluded; "While it is regrettable in the extreme that this incident occurred it must be acknowledged that human error is part of the human condition and when it happens it must be dealt with while not condoning it."
Ms Straeter, whose father is German, moved to Ireland as a young child and was educated in this State. Late last year, her family moved from their former home in Ballyhaunis, Co Mayo, back to Germany.
She hopes to pursue an arts degree in Cologne, leading to a teaching qualification.
In a statement, the SEC said it "cannot implement a separate marking scheme whether for an individual candidate or for a class or small group of candidates."
In the event that an incorrect range of texts was followed, it said, "some credit is awarded for unprescribed texts in accordance with the instruction of the chief examiner for Leaving Certificate English to examiners."
However Ms Straeter said: "It is totally unfair. I am suffering because of something which is not my fault. I have been fobbed off at every turn. Everyone accepts it is wrong but no one is prepared to do anything about it."