Decision to delay 'makes nonsense' of new exams

Education Correspondent

Monday 6 February 2012

HEADTEACHERS' leaders have joined growing calls for the Scottish Government to ensure a level playing field for pupils sitting new secondary school exams.

REAL TEST: East Renfrewshire Council's controversial decision to delay the roll-out of the Curriculum for Excellence has caused anger in headteachers' groups. Picture: Jeff J Mitchell

Custom byline text:

Andrew Denholm Education Correspondent

School Leaders Scotland (SLS), which represents secondary headteachers, said the decision to let one council delay the introduction of exams for a year made a "nonsense" of the system.

The warning came after Michael Russell, the Education Secretary, backed controversial plans by East Renfrewshire Council to delay the introduction of new school exams as part of the roll-out of the Curriculum for Excellence (CfE).

The council said its schools needed more time to prepare for the new National 4 and National 5 exams – which replace Standard Grade and Intermediates – arguing that headteachers did not have enough information on the new qualifications.It is easier for East Renfrewshire to delay for a year because all pupils there take Intermediate exams, which will still be running for an extra year as a precaution.However, the decision directly counters national guidance that there should be no wholesale delays to the implementation of the programme to ensure parity for pupils across the country.Despite wider condemnation of this approach, Mr Russell is insisting East Renfrewshire is "unique" and therefore should have more time to prepare for the new qualifications than any other council.Last night, Ken Cunningham, general secretary of SLS, said: "While East Renfrewshire may have its own reasons for wanting a delay, the provision that was made was only to be used in very exceptional circumstances.Apart from these exceptional circumstances, the Scottish pupils facing examinations in 2013/14 should all be sitting the new National qualifications."The only thing that should stop that happening is if there is a serious disruption to the current timetable, but at this point in time everything is still running to the original plan."Otherwise, it makes a nonsense of what it is we are trying to do in introducing a new nationwide curriculum and exams."Meanwhile, Richard Edwards, professor of education at Stirling University's Institute of Education, raised questions about how effectively the introduction of the new curriculum was being evaluated.He said: "There is a major change being implemented with huge potential impact and there is a question about the existence of an effective evaluation strategy to judge the success of what is happening."I am surprised there isn't a more systematic independent evaluation being put in place by the Scottish Government."Relying on reports from Education Scotland is limited because these are inspection reports and not an evaluation."The attacks are the latest condemnation of the Scottish Government's approach to the roll-out of the new exams.Last week, Ades (Association of Directors of Education in Scotland), which represents education directors, called for a uniform approach across the country.Both national parental bodies also spoke out saying pupils across Scotland should be approaching the exam with a level playing field to restore public confidence in the new exam system.Meanwhile, Eileen Prior, executive director of the Scottish Parent Teacher Council, said: "Everything that has been said up to now was that a delay was only available in exceptional circumstances and it is very hard to understand how an entire local authority can be viewed as an exceptional circumstance. "This undermines confidence, which is already shaky amongst parents."

Commenting & Moderation

We moderate all comments on HeraldScotland on either a pre-moderated or post-moderated basis. If you're a relatively new user then your comments will be reviewed before publication and if we know you well then your comments will be subject to moderation only if other users or the moderators believe you've broken the rules, which are available here.

Moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours. Please be patient if your posts are not approved instantly.

Decision to delay 'makes nonsense' of new exams

Commenting & Moderation

MOST READ

SPONSORED LINKS

MOST COMMENTED