DON’T FAIL OUR KIDS
Equality chief fears substitute scheme to mark pupils’ grades could be illegal
Scotland’s equality regulator has said plans to base pupils’ exam results on their school’s previous grades could be illegal.
The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), which can order public bodies to act, said it is “concerned” over the Scottish Qualification Authority’s proposals.
Critics have argued basing a grade on coursework and earlier performances at the school wi l l discriminate against pupils.
Members of Holyrood’s education and skills committee grilled SQA chief executive Fiona Robertson on the plans last week. She told MSPs the SQA was working with the EHRC on an equality impact assessment (EIA), which ensures a policy isn’t illegal.
The SQA was required to consider equality and discriminat ion whe n it decided to call off exams due to the Covid-19 crisis.
But the EHRC has said it is still “concerned that the SQA have been unable to demonstrate that they have considered any equality issues in their work in this area, or that they have met their legal duties in this regard”.
Dr Lesley Sawers, Scotland commissioner for the EHRC, said: “We know this is a di f f icult time for people working in education.
“It’s also difficult for pupils. Af ter years of hard work, control of their qualifications will be taken out of their hands.
“If we don’t get this right, the future of some disadvantaged young people is at risk.
“Research suggests there may be patterns of conscious or unconscious bias when estimating grades.
“With this in mind, there’s a danger that predicting grades may have an adverse impact on some disadvantaged groups.
“We will continue to work to ensure the SQA meet their obligations to undertake and publish an equality impact assessment of their alternative accreditation model and of the policies and processes which will follow.”
The Sunday Mail understands it was the EHRC which first contacted the SQA last month – nearly three weeks after it called off exams.
The quango publ ished alternative plans on April 20, outlining how it would give pupils grades based on their work and schools. But that prompted the EHRC to contact the SQA, asking for urgent talks, which were held on May 1.
Greens MSP Ross Greer, who sits on the education and skills committee, said: “The SQA told me, on the record, that they were working with the EHRC to ensure this year’s grading system is fair. Now we know that’s far from the real story.
“The EHRC were actually so concerned the SQA were fai l ing to comply with equality law that they had to get in touch, reminding them of their legal obligations.
“The SQA’s current plans could see pupils’ grades lowered for no other reason than the school they go to. This is clearly an inequality issue, so the SQA is required to thoroughly assess the impact it will have on already disadvantaged young people and fully publish their findings.”
An SQA spokesman said: “As a public body, SQA is covered by equality legislation and we are, of course, ensuring we meet our obligations by producing an equality impact assessment on our approach to certification this year.
“We have already made that clear to the education and skills committee and the EHRC.
“It is also our intention to publish the assessment.”