Bosses baf f led by new exam system forced to set own tests
‘Employers don’t know enough’
BOSSES are set to develop their own exams to test candidates due to confusion over school qualifications, MSPs heard yesterday.
The heads of some firms fear the existing system does not reflect pupils’ ability.
Business leaders warned of declining skills in the ‘three rs’ among recruits and said exam bosses had failed to communicate effectively with teachers.
Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) chief executive Dr Janet Brown faced questions at Holyrood yesterday on the controversial National 4 qualifications, which have no external exams.
National 4s were brought in as part of the Curriculum for Excellence along with National 5s to replace Standard Grade courses but critics fear they lack credibility and demanded urgent changes.
David Watt, of the Institute of Directors in Scotland, said: ‘We are going through a period of transition within the education system and employers don’t know enough about what’s going on.
‘There are teething problems with the new assessments and it’s important that the SQA continues a dialogue with employers. The problems with literacy and numeracy are a worrying trend, particularly at a time when we are talking about creating a fairer and more inclusive society, because having these vital skills is crucial.’
Tory MSP Michelle Ballantyne questioned Dr Brown at the education and skills committee on the extent of the SQA’s engagement with employers. The South Scotland MSP said: ‘A lot of employers are telling me that they are going to devise their own assessments when they are trying to recruit people because they really don’t understand it any more. So what are you doing about that?’
Dr Brown said the SQA engaged with businesses during the development of qualifica- tions, adding: ‘Working with employers is an absolutely critical part of what we do.’
She claimed businesses were comfortable with the concept of internal and ongoing assessment as used in National 4.
Dr Brown added: ‘I think what we’ve seen is an increasing concern about how National 4 is perceived and we need to go back and have that further discussion with them on that.’
She said a ‘significant proportion’ of teachers believed there should be an external assessment, in some cases exams. She added: ‘Those opinions vary from the fact that both learners and some teachers felt that not having an exam was an appropriate way of doing it as it prepared people for a different pathway, potentially going into other qualifications that are internally assessed, whilst others felt the lack of an exam needed to be addressed.’
Dr Brown told the committee the Scottish Government’s working group on Assessment and National Qualifications would make a decision on the future of the qualification which would be carried out by SQA.
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