A life lesson..
SCOTLAND’S exam fiasco would never have happened if anyone in power had listened to the warnings.
Teachers were among those sounding the alarm about the SQA grading system.
Opposition leaders also cried foul. But the SNP Government thought it knew best and let the whole sorry saga unfold in slow motion before everyone’s eyes.
Pupils were unfairly marked down, teachers were furious, and eventually the Government apologised.
The EIS union has had an opportunity to scrutinise the shambles and they have a warning for the Government.
It’s one that all politicians should have remembered from their school days – pay attention in class and listen to the teacher.
TEACHERS expressing their fury at the SQA results “debacle” have called for less reliance on “high stakes examinations” in future.
The EIS union has held the first meeting of its education committee for the new school session and members were scathing in their
BY VIVIENNE AITKEN appraisal of the SQA’s performance.
Convener Susan Quinn said: “The EIS education committee is not normally a place where serious anger is expressed but there was a considerable amount of ire at this week’s meeting over this year’s SQA qualifications experience. Teachers were outraged that professional judgments on student achievement seemed liable to be over-ruled by a computer in the moderation process.
“Reducing individual students to mere data
points in a statistical model was always a flawed approach.
“It should not have taken a massive public and political backlash to force a more sensible model for recognising student achievements.”
She added: “Working towards a normal diet of exams seems hopelessly optimistic given even the current levels of disruption being faced in schools, let alone the threat of a second wave of the virus.
“In both the short and the longer term, we need to have less reliance on high stakes examinations to accredit student performance.”