Ombudsman for Children calls for commitment from State Examination Commission to issue clear guidelines for RACE scheme to benefit students with disabilities

Communication and oversight of RACE scheme prevalent in complaints

The Ombudsman for Children, Dr. Niall Muldoon, has called for a commitment from the State Examination Commission to issue clear guidelines for the Reasonable Accommodations at Certificate Examinations (RACE) scheme, ensuring fair and timely access to exam support for the Leaving Certificate students of 2017. The Ombudsman was speaking following the publication of a report outlining complaints made in relation to the State Examination Commission’s administration of the RACE scheme for students with special educational needs.

“My office has been dealing with the same types of complaints in relation to the RACE scheme for a number of years now and I do not want to see this repeated next year.

“In 2014 and 2015, the Ombudsman for Children’s Office (OCO) received 132 complaints about the State Examinations Commission’s administration of the RACE scheme. So far in 2016, the office has received an additional 55 complaints.

“Issues such as communication, fairness and oversight of the scheme were common across all of the complaints.

“A fundamental concern was that the State Examination Commission did not provide applicants with the reason why their application was refused. Parents and students were put in a position where they had to appeal decisions without knowing the reason why that decision was made.

“In May 2016, the State Examination Commission began to provide reasons for its decision to refuse applications. While this was very late in the 2016 cycle, I very much welcome the commitment to continue this practice in the future.

“It was also found that many students who qualified for the scheme for Junior Certificate were refused for Leaving Certificate. Although the process for decision making is different, the scheme states that the eligibility criteria for both exams is the same. This resulted in confusion and frustration for both students and parents.

“Complaints received by this Office highlighted the issue of late notification of decisions in many cases. Leaving Certificate students with disabilities should know what supports will be provided to them in a much timelier fashion, and not in the final year, or even the final weeks, of their school education.

“I am calling on the State Examination Commission to accept and implement the recommendations of this report in reviewing the criteria for the RACE scheme for students with special educational needs.

“Similar issues to those discussed in this report were addressed in the High Court in recent weeks and the State Examination Commission subsequently undertook a review of some cases for 2016.

“As Ombudsman for Children, I would expect that this report, alongside those judgments, will inform the overall review of the scheme to ensure that the State Examination Commission will meet its commitments to children with a disability. That would help to ensure that students sitting the Leaving Certificate in 2017 will not experience the same difficulties.”

ENDS

Contact:
Aoife Carragher
Ombudsman for Children’s Office
01 865 6806 / 087 148 4173

Notes to Editor

• The accommodations awarded by the Reasonable Accommodations at Certificate Examinations (RACE) scheme of the State Examination Commission are intended to help students with special educational needs like dyslexia to demonstrate their ability in state exams without giving them an unfair advantage over other exam candidates.
• This year (2016) the State Examination Commission provided 19,806 reasonable accommodations to facilitate Leaving and Junior Certificate candidates with individual needs and 10,223 special examination centres as a result.
• The Ombudsman for Children’s Office is an independent statutory body with an overall mandate to promote the rights and welfare of children under the age of 18 living in Ireland.
• Among the Ombudsman for Children’s core statutory functions is the independent and impartial investigation of complaints made by, or on behalf of, children in relation to public bodies, as well as organisations providing services on behalf of the State.

Read the Reasonable Accomodations for Certificate Examinations report in full

• 28 June 2016
• Type: Press Release