Supervisors - the public face of the exam system

THE face and the voice of the exam hall supervisor even the sound of her footsteps tends to become etched into the memory of exam candidates forever.

For two weeks, this all powerful personage becomes the public face of the exams, as she paces the exam hall, hands out the papers, keeps an eye on the clock.

Supervisors or superintendents, to give them their official title who fidget or have peculiar mannerisms can drive candidates to distraction. A nice, sympathetic one can make all the difference between being relaxed or uptight during the exams.

But spare a thought for the poor superintendents themselves, on whose shoulders rests the full responsibility of running the exams in their centres.

The vast majority are teachers who have spent the rest of the year preparing their own students for the exams, so they do understand what candidates are going through. They apply to the Department of Education for the job and are each paid £34.71 a day. There are usually more applicants than vacancies, and many teachers do it every year. They are always allocated to schools at a geographical remove from their own and are paid travel and subsistence allowances in addition to the daily rate.

Each superintendent has a "gofer" or assistant whom they must pay £11.57 per day this is then reimbursed by the Department of Education at a later stage.

The school usually selects a reliable non-exam student to recommend for the exam hall assistant job. The assistant runs messages for the superintendent.

Last year some controversy arose in relation to school principals barring students from the exam hall because they were not wearing school uniforms. This led to some confusion as to whose authority runs in the exams, the superintendent's or the school principal's.

This was later clarified by the Minister for Education as follows the school principal's authority for behaviour within the school continues as normal and the principal is free to insist that students wear uniform if she or he so wishes. However, within the actual exam hall the superintendent's authority is total and the principal may riot refuse a student entry to the exam hall as a punishment or disciplinary measure.

The superintendent may however, refuse a student entry into a particular exam if the student has been misbehaving or causing disruption in the exam hall or if the student arrives late. To be found cheating is, of course the most serious offence of all the superintendent can ban a candidate from the exam hall for this offence or even recommend that the candidate's entire exam is nullified so it's not worth taking the risk!

The school principal is expected to be in the school during the exams the vice principal also does duty in some cases. It is their responsibility to ensure that there is no disturbance or excessive noise within the school premises during the exams.

This morning the superintendent will ask two students to come to her desk and witness the breaking of the seal on the strong box containing the exam papers. This guarantees that the box has not been tampered with. The superintendent then takes out the envelope containing that morning's papers and breaks the seal.

Each envelope has only the papers for that particular exam and, to avoid accidents, it has printed on it in large letters "DO NOT OPEN UNTIL..."

Most supervisors do their job well. Some make the odd mistake or can appear to be over strict. The Department of Education's inspectors make spot checks on exam centres to ensure things are running properly.

In the rare event of a candidate being seriously dissatisfied with how a supervisor is operating, they should complain to the school principal, who should in turn contact the exams branch, which will then send an inspector.

School principals are inclined to feel that to complain to the exams branch might result in the school being victimised in some way. This is not the case the exams branch is keen to know when things are going wrong so that it can rectify the problem.

There is no need to be afraid of raising your hand during the exams and asking the supervisor about something. If you got a higher level paper when you should have got an ordinary one raise your hand immediately. If you are seriously concerned about a question on the exam paper not being clear, then it is also acceptable to ask the supervisor.

Sometimes there can be problems with the tapes during aurals. It is perfectly in order to raise matters like this.

Candidates who feel ill or who absolutely need to go to the toilet can also raise their hands to attract the supervisor's attention but in the interest of time, it is advisable to try to go to the toilet before the exam begins.