The National Parents' Council (Post-Primary) has said that its helpline received a "huge number" of calls from students and parents complaining about grades in this year's Leaving Certificate English exam.
The NPC's spokesman, Mr John Whyte, said many of the calls came from parents of students who had done very well in other Leaving Cert subjects - some getting four or five grade As - but had failed or done badly in English. Others said their Leaving Cert grades had not been consistent with the exam marks they had received in English "over the years".
Mr Whyte said there were also calls from parents of students "at a lower level" who were "pleasantly surprised that they had done better than expected".
Mr Whyte said he was "fairly happy" that the current rechecking procedure was "properly done". He hoped that it would be possible to ensure that rechecking examiners would receive clean copies of papers being rechecked rather than have the marks given by the original examiner on the paper in front of them.
A group of midlands teachers and parents has called a meeting in Athlone on Saturday and invited people from throughout the Republic to bring documentary evidence of "inappropriately low and high grades in the Leaving Cert English exam compared to average marks in `mocks' and in other Leaving Cert subjects, especially related subjects like history".
They have also demanded that the Minister for Education, Mr Martin, should ensure that recheck examiners are not part of the original examining team and that a clean, unmarked copy of exam papers is submitted for the recheck. Four parents have sought legal advice about how they can compel the Minister to do this.
Figures published by the Department of Education yesterday show there were 2,745 appeals against honours English marks this year, compared to 960 against French, 893 against geography, 775 against biology, 714 against Irish, 578 against history, 574 against mathematics and 525 against chemistry. Comparable figures last year were 2,053 against honours English, of which 222 were upgraded; 820 against French; 760 against biology; 722 against geography; 666 against chemistry; 568 against history and 551 against Irish.
Meanwhile, the largest secondary teachers' union has asked for an immediate meeting with the Department's chief inspector, Mr Eamon Stack, "to discuss perceived difficulties in regard to results in the Leaving Certificate higher-level English paper".
The general secretary of the Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland, Mr Charlie Lennon, said it was important that the facts were established quickly and that the concerns of teachers, students and parents were addressed "on the basis of those facts".
He added: "We must ensure that the integrity of the examinations system is upheld and also that recognition is afforded to the dedicated efforts made by examiners in performing such strenuous work."