SQA fails dismally in test of fairness to kids from deprived backgrounds
FOR many kids from the wrong postcode, there is as much chance of getting to university as winning the golden ticket to the Willie Wonka factory.
For children from Scotland’s economic blackspots, life is already a gauntlet of adversity, from poor health outcomes to families blighted by stress and addiction, to growing up in environments of chaos and violence.
Even the death rate from coronavirus was twice as high in the poorest areas.
With exams cancelled for the first time in history due to the pandemic, children found themselves falling foul of a marking system stacked against them.
SQA figures released yesterday showed Higher pass rate for pupils from the most deprived backgrounds were reduced by 15.2 percentage points, compared to only 6.9 percentage points for the wealthiest pupils.
You don’t need higher maths to work out that’s a raw deal if you happen to be smart kid from a skint family.
It seems money once again wins over merit.
The Scottish Qualifications Authority said its moderation process had ensured “fairness to all learners” and maintained “standards and credibility” in the qualification system.
There is no fairness for children who, against the odds, have excelled academically but who now find their grades dragged down by their school’s poor attainment rate.
Surely, if anything, achieving academically in a school which underperforms demonstrates a greater ability than those who have every resource to help them succeed?
This is a generation already under more pressure than those who came before, with degrees needed for careers now which never required them previously.
To get into university, they are expected to show life skills, volunteer work, perhaps some travel and work experience, all of which is a tougher ask for kids who don’t have money and nepotism on their side.
The teaching unions and the schools had predicted this disaster would happen but the Government refused to listen.
Scotland’s exams authority rejected nearly 124,000 recommendations from teachers for this year’s results.
The SQA said it had downgraded nearly a quarter of all the recommended results and so maintained the status quo that schools in deprived areas will always do badly. This has shown contempt not only for pupils but also staff who have worked tirelessly to achieve better outcomes for their schools.
If these schools haven’t improved in the last year, the real question is, why not and what support should they have been given to raise standards?
This cruel farce has just trashed the dreams of children who dug deep and aspired, who could have broken the poverty cycle.
And what a waste of Scotland’s untapped talent, not just in terms of academic ability but also life experience. Medicine, teaching, the media and every other profession are enhanced by diversity, not just in ethnicity but class.
It is of benefit to society if its doctors truly understand why deprivation is intrinsically linked to ill health, because they have lived the experience.
The SQA is about to be deluged with appeals, so let’s hope it recognises it has far from passed the test of fairness and gives children from deprived areas the chances they deserve.