Theoretically, the very notion that parental income determines your chances of future success should shock anyone who believes in the centrist liberal ideology of meritocracy. All the more so in Scotland, where the democratic intellect and “lad o’ pairts” myths shape our national amour propre.
Schools
Most will respect the gravity of the circumstances and follow the rules. But lockdowns, as everyone has always acknowledged, are an inherently chaotic last resort. For all the rhetoric of national unity, they come with significant costs.
Source Direct: Lockdown Return Highlights Deeper Failings
With Covid having struck everyone from the Windsors to Donald Trump, a myth emerged that it does not discriminate on grounds of class. But on almost every metric this is false. Pandemic-related school absences have thus been highest in Scotland’s poorest communities.
Source Direct: School’s out for summer
“Already by the start of September, students are arriving at Scottish campuses for the most extraordinary academic year in living memory.”
Analysis: After the school grades fiasco – what’s next for Scottish education?
The ‘R’ rate in Scotland “could have been as high as 1.3” last week, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said yesterday. At the same time, they think there was only 250 infectious people in Scotland. So Coronavirus is at a low base level, but if on average each person with Covid-19 is infecting 1.3 others, the […]
‘R’ rate: Scotland in the covid-19 danger zone
Common Weal communications officer Becki Menzies looks at the SQA grading debacle through her own experience of going to a school in a deprived area. She argues that this should be a wake-up call. If my fifth year exams results had been marked by the same SQA methodology as this year, I’d probably not the […]
Becki Menzies: I would have been one of those kids let down by the SQA system – it’s time for change
“Children and young people are least likely to be affected by Covid19 physically but are most likely to be affected psychologically.”
Schools Back: Covid-19 and Young People’s Mental Health
Education Secretary John Swinney has created the expectation of a major reversal on the SQA pupil grading system when he speaks to the parliament on Tuesday. “These are unprecedented times and as we have said throughout this pandemic, we will not get everything right first time,” he said yesterday. Politicians willing to admit to mistakes […]
How the Education Secretary can save his job
“The problem at the heart of the statistical standardisation is that it can be simultaneously unfair to individuals, but also maintain the integrity of the system. However, if system integrity damages the life chances of individuals, then it is not much of a system.” Professor Guy Nason of the London School of Economics’ yesterday, summing up […]
“Somehow I’ve failed an exam I didn’t sit”
Let’s start with the good news. One in every 200 tests are now coming back positive for Covid-19 in Scotland. From 32,021 tests in Scotland last week, 155 were positive, just 0.5 per cent. The WHO says tests should be delivering sub-5 per cent results for two weeks before lockdown easing measures are considered, so […]