Councillors call for crisis meeting on exams fiasco
Opposition councillors have called for a special meeting to discuss the exams results crisis which saw more than 50 per cent of pupils at a Stirling high school downgraded in their Highers.
A detailed breakdown of the results for the Stirling Council area shows Higher pupils at St Modan’s fared the worst for mark-downs by SQA officials, with 51 per cent followed by Bannockburn High where 39 per cent of pupils saw predicted grades reduced.
Overall across Stirling, nearly 25 per cent of all grades submitted by teachers were downgraded by the SQA.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon this week apologised to pupils across Scotland and vowed to look again at grades amid claims that students attending schools in poorer catchment areas had been disproportionately affected.
Now Tory councillors at Stirling Council have written to the council’s children and young people convener Susan Mcgill to ask for a special meeting to discuss the situation.
One Labour councillor also said the only conclusion pupils could draw was that they were being penalised because of where they live.
The local figures show that some schools had more than 25 per cent of results downgraded at National 5, over 50 per cent at Higher level and over 40 per cent for Advanced Higher level.
At Higher level, while only 19 per cent of estimated grades were downgraded at Balfron High School and 17 per cent at Mclaren High in Callander, St Modan’s and Bannockburn High were dropped 51 and 39 per cent respectively. The Dunblane High reduction was 27 per cent, Stirling High 22 per cent and Wallace High 32 per cent.
Tory education spokesperson Councillor Bryan Flannagan described the SQA process as a “fiasco”, adding: “In Stirling we have more than 2500 exam results downgraded and the students affected need help now.
“By convening the special meeting of the children and young people committee, we can put in place support for our pupils and their families.
“We also need to understand the process better as the Scottish Government asked for our teachers’ professional judgment alongside evidence of the grades, but they then overturned this.” Bannockburn Labour councillor Margaret Brisley said: “My heart goes out to the affected pupils and their parents all over the Stirling Council area this week for the anguish and chaos caused by this process.
“It is incomprehensible to me that any politician would conceive a plan that embedded inequality and injustice into our schools, but John Swinney and the SNP Government have done just that.
“Nearly three times as many Nat 5 grades were knocked down at Bannockburn High compared to Balfron High – what are kids and their parents in my ward supposed to think - other than the SNP Government doesn’t care as much about them because of where they live?
“This whole debacle is unforgivable.”
Some opposition parties at Holyrood have also proposed a vote of no confidence in the Cabinet Secretary for Education, John Swinney.
Scottish Conservative MSP, Dean Lockhart said: “The effect on students here in Stirling is completely unacceptable. This is part of long list of fails by the SNP and their education secretary.”
Stirling MSP Bruce Crawford (SNP) said yesterday (Tuesday): “The Education Secretary will today set out the measures the Scottish Government will take to address this matter. They have listened, and taking action is clearly the right thing to do.
“This is a situation that has come about with the best of intentions from the SQA, but it is clear that it was not the right approach in a number of cases. I will listen to John Swinney’s statement closely.
“This should not be a matter for political point scoring, and again the Tories appear to be seriously lacking in self-awareness. A similar situation has taken place in England, and Tory Ministers today appear to be reluctant to respond to growing calls to fix the matter.
“The Covid-19 crisis has thrown almost every institution into an unknown situation, and people, businesses and government organisations are doing their best to deliver during these unprecedented times.
“What residents want is for politicians to work constructively in their interests, not for rank hypocrisy from Tory MSPS.”