I hope degree level success will not suffer
THE teachers’ unions, want an absolute guarantee of safety for children and staff before a return to school is permitted. Only a fortnight ago I wrote explaining that such a warranty is impossible but the consequent risk is acceptable when set against the potential damage to their educational progress.
Some years ago unions lobbied for an end to exams and for students to progress in accordance with recommendations from their tutors. The idea was opposed due to the perfectly understandable inclination of teachers to favour their own students ( which would reflect well upon their tutors), and for teachers to avoid pressure from parents.
The use of an algorithm in the determination of A-level results would have worked perfectly well had it shown an overall improvement of about 2%; but for some reason best known to themselves Ofqal’s predictions were inexplicably adjusted to produce a pass rate lower than exams taken in previous years.
The rush to use teachers’ marks shows a distinctly unlikely increase in achievement of 9% over last year. This has clearly worked to the advantage of students going on to university and I can only hope that success at degree level will not suffer due to their fortunate grading increases. I wish them well.
K. Lynch, Coventry.
Children must get back to the classroom
CHILDREN must go back to school. They can’t afford to miss any more schooling and i’m sure most teachers are desperate to get back in the classrooms themselves.
This country has to get back to being as normal as it can until a vaccine is found. We owe it to the young.
G. Martin, Coventry.