THE STATE EXAMINATIONS Commission has confirmed it is investigating a picture which appears to show a woman correcting a Leaving Cert paper on a train.

Today’s Irish Daily Mail carries the photo, which was taken at a Dart station on Tuesday, appearing to show the woman marking a higher level history test.

The paper quotes an eye-witness as saying the train was “packed”.

A spokesperson for the State Examinations Commission said that while they cannot comment on individual cases, it was investigating the incident.

Each year, the State Examinations Commission recruits some 4,000 examiners to mark the written scripts submitted by candidates. Examiners are selected on the basis of their academic qualifications, their teaching experience and examination experience. They are primarily recruited from a pool of experienced serving and retired teachers.

“The main criterion for suitability is the capacity to mark examinations work with maximum accuracy and efficiency.”

They say that the examiners “receive detailed training and instruction in order to fulfil their role”.

All examiners are required to protect the student’s confidentiality.

An extract from the SEC examiners’ training manual sets out the fundamental principle of candidate confidentiality and the specific instruction given about where correcting should be done.

It is our experience that the role of examiner is one that is conducted with commitment, diligence and professionalism by many thousands of men and women each year. However, the SEC takes most seriously any reports of an examiner acting in dereliction of their duty and will follow up on any reports received.

Examiners are told:

“Candidates’ scripts, their marks, and all documents related to the marking process are strictly confidential…Therefore, you are not allowed to carry out any of the work in a public place.”