Teacher accidentally gave out exam questions, says principal

THERE was no post-examination celebration for some 156 first-year students from ITE College East.

On Friday, 16 Mar - just two days after they took their exam on warehousing and inventory management - these students were told that they had to sit for the subject a second time.

They were given a choice of when to sit for the second exam - 19 Mar or on 16 Apr.


Reason?

The school said that there was an accidental leak by a teacher in charge of these students, who were taking the integrated logistics management course.

The news of the re-examination did not go down too well with some pupils.

One student, who called The New Paper Hotline, said: 'It's very unfair that we have to retake the paper all over again.'

The student, who did not want to be identified, added that students were told there had been an 'administrative lapse' without being given a full explanation.

When contacted, Mr Tan Seng Hua, principal of ITE College East, said the incident had happened unintentionally.

He said a teacher had 'inadvertently' used the exam questions during revision with students.

Mr Tan said: 'This is an isolated incident, but ITE takes a serious view of it.'

He explained that the two-hour paper had to be declared void 'to uphold the integrity of the exam system'.

He further clarified that the school had explained to students why the re-exam was necessary.

'We understand the inconvenience and difficulties caused to the students and have scheduled the exam so they can choose to take it on one of two dates.'

The leak is currently being investigated by the school.

Mr Tan said: 'Necessary action will be taken to ensure that such an incident does not occur again.'

So far, more than 90 per cent of the affected students have already taken the re-exam.

Ms Tan Yee Ling, 22, was initially upset when told she had to take the paper a second time.

She said: 'I cried. It was disheartening especially since I had spent days and nights burning the midnight oil for my revision.'

However, after the news sank in, she prepared herself to take the exam again.

She reasoned that it would be fairer, as everyone would be on level playing field.

After taking the paper again, she said: 'The standard was about the same. It was okay.'

While there were students who were unhappy with the re-exam, there were others who didn't mind the extra study time.

One of them was Mr Lim Kek Boon, 33.

He told The New Paper that 'it was as though my prayers had been answered'.

Mr Lim said he wasn't confident when he sat for the first paper as he didn't study hard enough.

He said: 'For the second paper, I studied very hard over the weekend and cherished my second chance.

'I think I probably did better this time round.'