Stop devaluing our education system

AS the dust begins to settle on the diplomatic but scathing OECD report, there seems to be emerging a suggestion that the Government could dispense with external examinations.

If that does not give immediate cause for alarm, it certainly calls for a pause for serious thought.

What credibility would an internally assessed system carry with receiving institutions and employers without the quality control derived from the validation provided by an external examination authority, applying national standards under recognised criteria?

Qualifications obtained on the basis of internal assessment alone would be suspect in the eyes of those looking for suitable students or employees to take up the opportunities on offer in their respective areas.

External exams adjudicated under national standards by outside markers are the internationally accepted medium through which the proficiency of the individual can be measured and established in the mastery and understanding of any subject, invigilated by outside personnel, so that the individual has to rely entirely upon the personal resources held within the mind without having access to support for advice to guide the examinee through the test on the table.

Working under the pressure of time constraints, grasping what the questions demand, quickness of thought and expressing the answers in satisfactorily coherent and succinct form, are the four elements which are being tested in external exams, the results of which then command approval from those who rely upon the nationally recognised certificates for the selection of candidates for their particular purposes.

I would hope that our Government is not in the market for devaluing our education system any further after the last 10 years of confusion.

Denis Bruce, Bishopbriggs.