An Opposition MP has raised concerns about the number of students graduating from CedarBridge Academy this summer, amid allegations of grades being inflated.

Shadow Education Minister Neville Darrell told he was worried that under-achieving students at the Island?s largest public school were given last-minute opportunities to make the grade after failing classes all year.

But Education Minister Terry Lister last night refuted the allegations, branding them ?mischievous? and showing ?a lack of respect for the hard work that students and teachers at the school had put in over the past year?.

Mr. Darrell has submitted parliamentary questions asking Mr. Lister to tell the House of Assembly how many students at the Devonshire school were on track to graduate at the beginning of the school year and how many ?who participated in ?challenge? exams or crash courses or course grading reassignment changes ... were included in the final graduation student population?.

Mr. Darrell claimed: ?This year a combination of challenge exams and crash courses have been used to bolster the sagging graduation numbers.?

But Mr. Lister hit back, saying this year?s graduating class was the largest in the school?s history, adding: ?Unfortunately there are those who wish to detract away from this success and level allegations that are designed to discourage our students.?

Mr. Darrell, who raised similar concerns last year, said sources within the education system had told him that just 55 students in CedarBridge?s senior four (S4) year were predicted to achieve the Bermuda School Certificate (BSC) last September. A printed list of the school?s 2006 graduating class names 117 students.

Mr. Darrell said: ?I have been told that at the beginning of this academic year now ended that there were approximately 55 students who were successfully on target to graduate this year.

?It was at this point that apparently all manner of tests were used to enable more students to graduate from CedarBridge Academy.

?I have been reliably informed that at the beginning of the last week of school, there were approximately 78 students graduating, with that number swelling to about 117 students graduating in the final outcome. That?s an increase of over 100 percent.?

Mr. Darrell claimed it was unfair to students who had passed classes all year to allow others to catch up with ?one-off quizzes?.

?What kind of message are we sending to those students who played by the rules and who persevered, sustained a positive study history throughout, passed all the courses and who achieved their objectives as required by the school to graduate?? he asked. ?In my view this is unacceptable and wrong.?

Mr, Lister described the United Bermuda Party MP?s information as ?completely incorrect?.

He said: ?Two years ago, the class of 2006 was told that they had the potential to become the year group with the highest number of graduates in the history of CBA.

?They were challenged this year to be the year group with the highest number of graduates and they delivered.?

He said an internal school report in March identified more than 130 students in S4 and S5 as potentially on track to graduate.

And he said there was nothing wrong with using challenge tests to help students graduate. ?Having students take challenge exams is an established procedure for senior schools. Challenge exams are developed and marked by teachers who are best positioned to assess student knowledge of the objectives covered for a course.

?It is also true that a few students from CedarBridge were able to sit and pass challenge exams which gave them the credits needed to pass. If a young person who has not been successful in a course can have another opportunity to demonstrate that they are competent, we should encourage it, not speak negatively about it.?

Three teachers ? all of whom asked to remain anonymous ? spoke to this newspaper about their concerns with the final tally of graduates.

All said challenge tests were meant for use in special circumstances and not to help students avoid failing the year.

?There are still a lot of students that unfortunately didn?t work as hard as they should have and were able to reap the benefits,? said one teacher.

The teacher claimed that teachers were coerced into inflating grades to make sure certain students achieved the 60 percent pass mark.

This newspaper has obtained an advisory note on grade verification given to staff which reads: ?Make sure that none of the grades are between 57 percent and 59.4 percent. If there are, it should be signed off by the Principal/Deputy Principal.?

The teacher said: ?A lot of people were upset on graduation day. Parents need to know that their child has worked very hard and has earned the right to be on the stage. But they are with students who have not earned the right to get the BSC.?

Another source at the school said they had suspicions but no evidence that grades had been increased. ?Some students did not pass and they were on the stage.?

A third teacher said: ?Students were given challenge exams and crash courses and it?s not fair. It?s been happening for the last couple of years but this year was the worst.?

Mr. Lister described the teachers? remarks as the ?scurrilous accusations of unnamed persons?.

He said Ministry of Education officials were responsible for verifying all the grades from the two senior schools and returning to the school a list of successful graduates.

?Ministry officials are not otherwise involved in the grading procedures for either senior school,? he said. ?It has been alleged that Ministry officials ?compelled? persons to change grades to ensure that the number of students graduating appears to be higher. The comment is erroneous.?

He added that grades close to the pass mark did have to be signed off by senior staff members.

?This is not new. Rather, the step is part of a series of checks and balances that have to be made. The grades are not ?bumped up? to create passes where there are none.?

He said where a grade assigned to a student had to be changed, a written request had to be sent to the Ministry?s research department.

Mr. Lister said: ?CedarBridge is very diligent about ensuring that correct grades are recorded for all students, from S1 to S5, because this can indeed make all the difference in the world between a pass and a failure.?

CedarBridge principal Kalmar Richards did not respond to a request for comment.