Senate committee hears claims of irregularities in practical exam for perito electricista; JEPE defends procedures

San Juan — The Senate’s Comisión de Gobierno on June 6 held a public vista into the administration of the practical exam for admission as perito electricista after the body filed Resolution 918 ordering a legislative investigation into exam timing, sites, candidate notices, required materials, scoring and five years of minutes.

Francis Teresa Berríos Meléndez, president of the Colegio de Peritos Electricistas de Puerto Rico, told the commission she supports modernizing the exam and recommended legislative clarifications to Law 115 of 1976. “Recomendamos que se incorporen a dicho examen los avances tecnológicos… la inclusión de la tecnología de vehículos eléctricos y su recarga,” she said, urging updates to reflect NEC 2023 and other industry changes.

Aníbal Picón Vélez, president of the Junta Examinadora de Peritos Electricistas (JEPE), read a written memorial describing the board’s statutory authority, the internal regulations that govern exam administration and the board’s practice of inspecting candidate sites. Picón said JEPE members perform the substantive evaluations and that Didaxis Inc., under contract to the Departamento de Estado, provides logistical and technical support: Wi‑Fi, registration, assignment of candidate ID numbers, tablets to capture evaluators’ rubrics and post‑process tabulation. “Didaxis… se encarga… del procesamiento de las solicitudes, la coordinación y ejecución de la logística,” Picón said in his presentation.

JEPE provided multi‑year statistics showing low pass rates on the practical portion: for 2023, JEPE reported 158 practical exam passes out of 382 attempts that year (a practical pass rate of roughly one‑third) and a seven‑year practical pass rate near 35 percent. Picón also told the commission that some certified minutes had been provided (Oct. 2023–Mar. 2024) and that an original‑minutes delivery was delayed due to a serious health issue affecting JEPE’s secretary; he requested 15 more days to supply remaining certified records.

Aspirants and other deponents gave detailed allegations. Ismael Mateo Ramírez (who participated in JEPE’s grievance process) and Israel Trinidad Mercado described instances in which they say exam stations used equipment that did not comply with the National Electric Code or were arranged so that completing a required task was effectively impossible. Trinidad said examiners sometimes asked multiple oral questions in a manner he likened to turning practical portions into de facto theoretical examinations and contended that tablet records and photographs, which he asked JEPE to provide, were not delivered. “Me tocaron seis preguntas y solo se me contabilizó una,” Trinidad said of one hearing; he also asked the commission to subpoena tablet data and original files.

A recurrent concern raised by aspirants was access to the tablets and data used by evaluators. Witnesses asked the commission to order forensic review of the electronic rubrics to determine whether score entries can be altered post‑examination and whether simultaneous visibility of other candidates’ scores on tablets could create opportunities for manipulation. Picón repeatedly responded that once an evaluator saves a rubric on the tablet it cannot be altered by Didaxis or the evaluator and described Didaxis’ role as timing, logistics and data consolidation; he said JEPE members are the evaluators who assign points.

Commission members also flagged broader system questions: the availability of suitable vocational school facilities (several schools were cited as closing temporarily for rehabilitation), the absence of a clear mechanism to track education‑credit compliance across non‑colegiado and colegiado licensees, and whether certain internal processes (for example, a member voting in cases tied to candidates he supervises privately) present conflicts of interest. The committee asked staff to request from JEPE a signed certification from each board member that they have not administered or intervened in examinations for candidates under their private supervision and to produce original minutes for the past five years, the tablets used in specific administrations and the complete digital exam records for targeted cases.

No formal sanction or vote was taken at the hearing. The commission closed the session after hearing testimony and indicated it would continue its review under the timetable set by the resolution and statutory requirements. Staff reminded witnesses that the law protects those who testify before a legislative commission and asked that any concerns about reprisals be reported to commission personnel.

What’s next: the commission has requested the remaining certified minutes, candidate tablet data and the board’s certifications; staff will deliver those requests to JEPE and the Departamento de Estado for their formal response as part of the ongoing investigation. The commission did not adopt any immediate changes to JEPE procedures at the hearing.