Brian Boyd was one of the main architects of the very Curriculum for Excellence which he now appears to criticise ("Call to replace exams with single school qualification", The Herald, March 3).
His proposal bears a striking resemblance to the Howie Report. This put forward the idea of end-of-school baccalaureates, one designed for the academic, one for the less academic, with bridges and pathways linking the two to allow youngsters to move from one to the other. It was not implemented because it was too radical. Instead we had Higher Still. However, it was very logical and well thought out and could well be dusted down and implemented now.
Scottish Education's real problem is that success is measured too narrowly: the five Highers in fifth year approach. It is ironic that, while Brian Boyd argues for a wider understanding of what education should be, he takes Scotland's mediocre performance in the Pisa study, which compares children from different countries for "academic" success in language, maths and science, to justify his call for change.
However, if we take a long-term view of Scottish Education, it is quite clear that those changes which removed barriers from youngsters' opportunities to participate have had the most benefit. There was an end to selection at 12 and the introduction of comprehensive education; the end of the highly selective secondary exam system and the introduction of Standard Grade, which provided qualifications for all, and finally the raising of the school leaving age to 16 which meant all secondary pupils stayed on to S4 - the exam year.
A review of the statistics following these changes shows a leap in attainment, particularly for girls, many of whom had previously been encouraged to leave school at 15 with no qualifications.
So what next? The last great barrier to education is poverty and disadvantage. Many schools - and local authorities - are roundly criticised for failing to achieve the gold standard in education, when the real problem is not poor schooling but the poverty and disadvantages experienced by their pupils.
Take almost any statistic in education and map it, and you end up with a map of social advantage and disadvantage. An end-of-school baccalaureate is not going to solve this problem. Rather, we need to start at the beginning by identifying children with problems even before they go to school. Only then can we start to say that Scottish education is successfully delivering for all.
Judith Gillespie,
Former member of the Curriculum Review Group and member of the Literacy Standing Committee,
40 Fundhorn Place,
Edinburgh.
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