Greens wanted to find solution
Even in normal circumstances the day that letter containing exam results drops onto the door mat, or the text message pings into the inbox, is a harrowing one for young people. This year doubly so.
The decision not to press ahead with traditional exams was the right one. Neither pupil nor staff safety could be guaranteed in the current circumstances. But what replaced that system has dished out a bitter injustice to thousands of young people.
Since exams could not proceed as planned the SQA asked teachers to estimate, based on coursework, prelims and their professional assessment, what grade their pupils should be awarded.
However, the exam body also said there would be a process of“moderation”.
Despite repeated calls from the Greens in Holyrood, the SQA time and time again refused to disclose the exact methodology that would be used in this process.
Time and time again my party colleague and education spokesperson Ross Greer warned the SQA that any moderation based on a school’s previous performance would likely disadvantage pupils from poorer areas.
On results day, when it was already too late, he was sadly proven correct. Pupils in Scotland’s most deprived areas saw their pass rates reduced by 15 per cent.
That clear injustice shouldn’t undermine the fact that pupils across Perth and Kinross schools have put in an extraordinary effort in the last academic year.
Eighty-one per cent of pupils passed their Highers and 85 per cent did likewise in Advanced Highers.
But in every school there will be pupils who haven’t got the grades they expected, the grades they knew they were capable of if only they’d been given a chance.
Instead their efforts, talents and ambitions were fed into the SQA’s machines and came out tattered and torn on the other side.
It was no wonder they raised their anger and took to the streets in protest. It was against this stark reality that last week in Parliament a vote of no confidence was proposed against education secretary John Swinney.
Labour and Tory MSPs bayed for a political scalp but for Green MSPs we wanted to see a solution put in place for young people and set about negotiating with the SNP Government to secure one.
As a result of this negotiation, the 124,565 grades that were lowered through moderation will be restored, based on the professional judgement of the teachers who know them best. Many young people’s dreams of moving onto college or university had been shattered by moderation, they will now have a bright future ahead.
In addition, the government has agreed to a review of the situation to ensure it never happens again. High stakes exams at the end of the school year have never been the best way of judging attainment, it’s time we had a system of assessment that is fit for the 21st Century.
For now John Swinney keeps his job, but the only thing that matters in all this is that the young people who were so badly let down got the justice and the solution they deserved.