Peter Shreeve, Assistant District Secretary, Isle of Wight – National Education Union, shares this latest news from the NEU. Ed
On Monday, representatives of the National Education Union handed in its Fair Grade petition to the Department for Education.
Launched in the wake of the Government’s handling of this year’s exams, 61,216 people signed the petition, which calls on Government to ensure fairness for all students taking A-Levels and GCSEs in 2021.
The hand-in was led by Dr Mary Bousted, Joint General Secretary of the National Education Union, alongside Rafia Hussain who launched a parallel petition on Parliament.uk that prompted a Parliamentary debate on 12th October.
Bousted: Our warnings were prescient
Commenting ahead of the petition hand-in, Dr Mary Bousted, Joint General Secretary of the National Education Union, said,
“This petition was launched before the full opening of schools in September and prior to the many examples of schools having to send pupils home due to new cases of Covid-19. Our warnings were prescient. There is a clear disruption to learning, and a geographical unevenness. There is an emerging postcode lottery for exams in 2021.
“In October, Gavin Williamson made it even harder for disadvantaged pupils to avoid learning loss. His actions to impose a legal duty on schools to provide remote learning, but to then ration already inadequate supplies of IT equipment to families the next day, are shameful. They are not the actions of a politician with the welfare of every child at the forefront of his mind.”
Shreeve: Not a level playing field for exams next year
Commenting on the ongoing uncertainty and anxiety, Peter Shreeve, Assistant District Secretary of the National Education Union said,
“Any sensible observer can see there will not be a level playing field for exams next year, which is why the petition makes the following demands:
- Reduce assessed exam content. Covid has led to significant variety of lost learning time – past, present and future. Therefore, slim down exams by making some topics optional.
- Commission a thorough independent review into assessment methods used to award qualifications in England, along the lines announced by the Scottish government. Over-reliance on exams increases student anxiety and fails to give a fair reflection of what students can achieve. All options should be considered to ensure that young people are rewarded for their achievements and supported to fulfil their potential.
- Work with schools to develop a robust national system of moderated centre assessed grades.
“Increasing transmission rates, particularly within secondary students and the imminent national four-week and longer lockdown shows the need to agree promptly to these actions and to cease continuing to ignore these perfectly logical and reasonable requests. The simplified Government three-week delay to summer exams in 2021 is seriously naive and will be insufficient to ensure the system is fair.
“We need a far more realistic expectation of what should be measured and how. Since August, together with head teacher unions, we have been calling on Government to work with us to address these challenges, so that exam students are not disadvantaged by high infection rates and any need to self-isolate. Let’s avoid any further atrocious handling of results, like those in the summer. Students need to know where they stand now, not later.”
Image: comedynose under CC BY 2.0
