Not high enough: student loses appeal over 99.95 mark
Louise Hall and Anna Patty
July 3, 2012 - 3:47PM
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A former Abbotsleigh student has lost her appeal against a decision by the NSW Board of Studies not to grant her special examination provisions in the form of a computer and extra exam time for the 2008 Higher School Certificate.
Sarah Hui Xin Wong took the Board of Studies to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal claiming she was unlawfully discriminated against on the ground of disability.
Ms Wong, now 21, says the board failed to adequately accommodate her joint hyper mobility of the wrist and hand during her English Advanced and Modern History exams.
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Ms Wong was granted rest breaks during the exams. She was also offered the use of a writer, who would take down her dictation. However, she chose not to use this option.
Ms Wong scored a university entry rank of 99.95 and is studying medicine at the University of Sydney. She came fifth in the HSC Chemistry exam when she was in year 11, in 2007.
However, she told the tribunal she believed if she had been granted a computer or extra time, she would have achieved higher marks
In a judgment handed down today, the tribunal found Ms Wong failed to establish her claims of discrimination and dismissed her complaint.
The tribunal said it was not satisfied that without a computer Ms Wong was unable to perform like someone without her disability.
"Ms Wong has not established that being granted the use of a computer was required or justified in her particular case," the three-member appeal panel said.
The girl's mother Eileen Wong, who has been complaining about her daughter's results to the school and the Board of Studies since 2008, believes her daughter was prevented from reaching her full potential.
Ms Wong has been ordered to pay some of the Board of Studies' costs, including a proportion of the fees of leading Sydney barrister Chris Ronalds SC.
She maintains she pursued the matter in the public interest to expose what she believes is an unfair system of assessment.
She said the board's failure to grant her additional special provisions meant that she was not fairly tested.
"You want your disability to be sufficiently addressed with special examination provisions so that everyone has a capability to communicate what they know in the HSC examinations, otherwise it is not a fair test of your knowledge," she said.
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http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/not-high-...r-9995-mark-20120703-21etp.html#ixzz1zXbehH15
