Exams ‘could be scrapped for 3rd year in row’
EXAMS may be cancelled in Scotland for the third year in a row as Ministers admit National 5s, Highers and Advanced Highers are under threat from Omicron.
A letter sent by Education Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville to education bosses outlines a series of proposed measures for schools in the face of the mutant strain.
The document, seen by The Scottish Mail on Sunday, issues a warning to education chiefs.
It says: ‘There are significant clinical and public health concerns about the impact of the Omicron variant. It is clearly important that we treat this situation very seriously and start to plan for the days and weeks ahead.’
Among the possibilities is that ‘public health advice means that exams have to be cancelled’. The grim warning will be greeted with dismay by teenagers and families who have already endured the cancellation of the past two formal exam diets due to Covid.
It comes as experts warned holding exams would be unfair to pupils who may miss weeks of classes due to self-isolation rules. They would miss out on face-to-face lessons, while teachers may be forced to repeatedly self-isolate.
Meanwhile, experts are drawing up emergency contingency plans for stricter anti-Covid measures in class – but they don’t include a return to home schooling. They want the measures – including the potential return of controversial ‘bubbles’ – to be ready if scientists back stricter measures in schools.
The letter, from Ms Somerville and Stephen McCabe of council body Cosla, was sent to education chiefs after First Minister Nicola Sturgeon’s bombshell warning of a ‘tsunami’ of Omicron infections.
The letter says the Covid Education Recovery Group, which advises the Scottish Government, has discussed bringing back some measures in schools.
It adds: ‘If there is a need to update guidance documents, we will work with partners to develop that and look to provide the sector with as much notice as possible. Please treat this letter as early notice that such an update may be forthcoming.’
Previously, bubbles operated where children were split into groups in school as a way of minimising contacts. That meant that, if one tested positive for Covid, everyone in their bubble had to isolate, so some children endured repeated enforced absence despite never testing positive.
The letter goes on: ‘As confirmed in August, we are planning for exams to take place in 2022, and this continues to be the case.’
It then warns: ‘In the event that public health advice means that exams have to be cancelled, guidance has already been provided to schools and colleges that the assessment evidence, routinely gathered as part of teaching and learning, and used to determine course estimates, would form the basis of determining learner provisional results.’
In spite of the desire to avoid blanket school closures, under rules announced last week more children will be forced to isolate.
All household contacts of a positive Covid case will have to isolate
‘It is important we plan for the weeks ahead’
‘This brings into doubt the fairness of exams’
for ten days. Previously, household contacts could leave self-isolation after a negative PCR if they were double-jabbed or under 18.
That has added to fears over the fairness of exams.
Yesterday, Lindsay Paterson, professor of educational policy at Edinburgh University, said the latest advice on isolating would make a ‘woeful situation even worse’ in schools, adding: ‘This new prospective disruption to students’ learning brings into serious doubt the fairness and viability of the exams next May.
‘Unlike numerous governments around the world, the Scottish Government still has no systematic programme for enabling pupils to catch up with what they have lost.’