One of the terrible things that this damned pandemic has done is to disrupt children's formal education. Essentially, British schoolchildren have not attended their schools since the middle of March. This means that kids in their mid-teens have not sat public examinations (GCSE) and those aged eighteen have not sat their A level and BTEC exams.
In normal years, the results of those exams come out in mid-August but this year's process has ended in pure chaos or what most newspapers have called a "fiasco".
You would have thought that Johnson's government working with examination boards would have determined an acceptable solution to this difficult situation. After all, they have had plenty of time in which to do that - some five months.
Faulty computer algorithms have been applied to known data and the flawed results that have been issued have caused a furore amongst parents, pupils, schools and universities. It was always going to be tricky but if the issues had been properly thought through with clear communication then we would not be in the mess that has resulted.
At the heart of it all is a floundering, hapless Minister of Education who I am ashamed to say is a Yorkshireman. He is called Gavin Williamson and if he were a football referee, the crowd would be singing, "You don't know what you're doing!" His arrogance has been breathtaking.
There have been many tears with heartbroken teenagers denied the academic futures they had been anticipating. University admission teams have had their careful procedures upended. As I say, it's utter chaos.
I was a GCSE examiner for twelve years and as the Head of English in a challenging secondary school, I was very familiar with the system and how exam results impacted on children and the schools they attended. Now, by being forced into utilising classroom teachers' grade predictions to determine final results there is a likelihood that awarded grades will be heavily inflated. The results for 2020 will be out of synch with previous years and years to come. This could have all been avoided with practical foresight, planning and healthy two-way communication with schools.
Williamson, Johnson and the exam boards owed it to young people - not to let them down in this terribly disrupted COVID year but that is precisely what they have done. And one of the main casualties is trust.
Gavin Williamson caricatured in "The Times" this morning
I hear your complaint. And am happy that the Angel isn't affected by this failed piss-up at the brewery. However, what do you expect? The British are famed for their incompetence, making things more complicated than need be.
ReplyDeleteHowever, here comes yours truly, the Spin Doctor: Out of adversity unusual solutions will arise. Characters built though I don't like that phrase. I think more along the lines of spines being steeled. And, as they say in the motherland, if there is nothing else on the table the devil will eat flies.
I don't wish to bring out the violins here, yet may remind you that in, say, times of war many educations were/are interrupted. Certainly for my grandparents' four younger children. Leaving home and hearth behind, what an adventure, what an EDUCATION fleeing "from the Russian" with your mother, on foot and cattle waggons, from the furthest Eastern corner of what was then Germany (now Poland) diagonally across the Reich till, if they'd gone further South, they'd have landed themselves in Switzerland. An epic journey. I won't mention bombings and other inconveniences on their way since - as today's slogan goes - virtually "everyone was in it together" (apart).
What I am trying to convey, yes, the current government is exceptionally incompetent (make that an A* Plus); however, need is the mother of invention. More fool who relies on the State to look after us. Think outside the box. Exams and certificates are not all they are cracked up to be for your future ability to earn a living (and be happy into the bargain).
U
Are the British famed for their incompetence? I never knew that even though I have lived here almost all my life. I wonder now we built the biggest and most powerful empire the world has ever seen if we were so incompetent.
DeleteStatistics prove that there is a super strong correlation between educational success and socio-economic achievement. Of course there will be occasional exceptions to every rule.
The British are, YP, [famed for their incompetence]. You "never knew" "even though [you] have live here almost all [your] life" Obviously, you don't know. That's the joy of moving abroad as I did many years ago. Then you learn how others see your country and its wo/men.
DeleteCurrently you are the laughing stock of Europe (and beyond). And those, probably most, who don't laugh shake their head in disbelief. By which I mean the handling of both Brexit and the Virus. It's pi squared.
As to the "Empire" you so carelessly mention. Invading, expanding. Relentlessly. That's in the past. Long gone (other than the curry houses). Never mind. Keep remembering the war/many wars, not least your footy victory 1966. Keep dining out on it.
As to your second paragraph in reply to me: I can't go there this minute. It'd take too long. Johnson and his "educational success" landed him the job. A job in an exercise in incompetence.
U
I have lived abroad too - in Fiji, America and Thailand and my experience was never that Britain was viewed as a "laughing stock". On the contrary, I found that we were viewed with much admiration. However, the recent shenanigans of The Tory Party have indeed been as tragic as they have been laughable with regard to Brexit and COVID19. I did not mention the British Empire casually. I mentioned it deliberately to illustrate that historically Britain was exceedingly competent in its administration of a third of the planet and that competence has not left us. There are very many nations on the planet today that are far less "competent" than Great Britain is. Don't get me wrong - I am well aware that the world has moved on and I do not wallow in nostalgia for some golden age.
DeletePicking up on Ursula's theme, my son never finished his university time but has never been without a job since, though of course he is a software designer. Three grandchildren got to uni and with jobs on the side, you can make it, though is this the survival of the fittest type of government we are experiencing?
ReplyDeleteThere is only one way to describe the government at the moment, it begins with the letter 'F' up, completes it.
Williamson (probably modified) bio on Wiki says his parents were both Labour and that he was a director of a fireplace company, someone else said he was a salesman - so the gift of the gab comes easily;) Sorry he comes from Scarborough but don't take it to heart because he is a northerner, he got corrupted by the wicked South.
Your son may not have completed his university education but the fact that he got there proves that he was of above average ability. Williamson corrupted by the wicked South - I like that explanation.
DeleteI may irritate you by now, on this thread, though that's not my intention YP.
DeleteOne question: What about people who make the grade but choose NOT to go to Uni?
And please don't give me "ABOVE average ability". The system [in England] is CORRUPT. What counts in England is the class you were born into. Which school (name names) you go to. How you are channelled. Weren't my in-laws so proud to show me (we actually drove there so I could see the place with my innocent eyes) where their son was boarded. What grades he got. What the eff? Don't get me wrong. I accept cultural differences. Doesn't excuse them.
U
The statistics do not lie. There is a close correspondence between exam achievement and socioeconomic status. The private and public schools you allude to cater for only a small percentage of any particular generation. In any society on the planet, wealthy achievers give their children advantages when it comes to education so I guess you could say that all education systems on the planet are in your way of thinking - "corrupt".
DeleteI have never understood why people have their academic hopes dashed at 18. What is wrong with assesment instead of exams? Lots of people achieve things through the University of life. Surely being a parent is greater than any academic achievement or even owning your house and having no student debt?
ReplyDeleteWithout a flourishing higher education service, any modern society will struggle economically though I agree that getting a degree is not the be all and end all.
DeleteIn spite of never having gone to uni, I have a job that I like and am well able to earn my living (although I am never going to be really rich, nor do I aspire to fame and fortune). However, I recognise the importance of good education, and the system being the way it is in today's world, the way things were handled for students in many countries (including my own) is clearly not acceptable.
ReplyDeleteIt's been done now, though, and I have no great advice or suggestion as to what to do to redeem the problem(s). One hopes that the experts (!) draw on their expertise - they can not draw on experience, as nobody has seen anything like the entire corona crisis in their lifetime.
PS: I re-sent the email this morning. Has it arrived?
Band the drums! Ring the bells! The e-mail has arrived complete with helpful Word document.
DeleteYou are right to point out that no education system has had to address anything like COVID19 before. All the more reason to use the lockdown months wisely - with healthy consultation and careful planning.
My Granddaughter has had her first year at Birmingham Uni completely messed up through covid, such a shame for her and others like her.
ReplyDeleteMe thinks that Boris is going to have a tough time come the elections.
Briony
x
He should have had a tougher time in last December's general election. "Get Brexit Done" may be a simple slogan but it is not a proper manifesto for the future. I am so sorry that your grand-daughter's first year at university was blighted. My daughter also attended The University of Birmingham and overall had a great experience there.
DeleteNicola Sturgeon’s apology was better YP ....
ReplyDeleteUrsula comment
“Currently you are the laughing stock of Europe“
Should not that read “we” after all you choose to live here
This comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteWe all have choices
DeleteFor what it’s worth Ursula actually agreed with my comment
DeleteI thought you didn't want anything to do with Ursula John?
DeleteDon't let yourself get drawn into another fight.
John, don't know what happened there. The day I start deleting MYSELF (by accident) is the day you not only may wipe my brow "there there" but the day I'll (briefly) adopt one of Winnie's woeful looks.
DeleteU
@The Cheat
DeleteDon't stoke fires by referring to "another fight". Neither do John and I need referees. Let us be. Relationships develop (successfully or not) in their own mysterious ways.
If countries took your approach (oh, not talking to you) there wouldn't be diplomacy, there wouldn't be an attempt at peace, at understanding the other. Life is flux, not cast in stone. And, added value, even in controversy, or maybe particularly in controversy, we can learn a lot.
U
As you say, they had plenty of time to come up with an effective solution. Things seem to be going from bad to worse.
ReplyDeleteThe whole GCSE and A-level kerfuffle is a bit beyond me, I must say, because I don't really understand the system all that well. (We don't use it in the school where I work since we follow an American curriculum.) But I gather this has been a disaster for a lot of students and I hate to think how it will affect their futures.
ReplyDeleteOn the plus side, Gavin Williamson is quite handsome.
My experience of both sides of education is that if students are over marked they are out of their depth but they eventually find their own level.
ReplyDeleteIf students are undermarked at such a crucial stage as this then their hopes of further education, the careers they want and their futures may be completely trashed. As someone who changed courses and careers fairly early on I know how hard it is to try and have a second bite at the cherry and why should able students be denied their opportunities due to the incompetence of a bunch of elitist tossers in government. Shame on Boris Johnson and his ministers for the biggest blow to equality in education ever. He is, as always, all bluster, bullshit and callous indifference.
You final sentence is so true Jean. I wish I had written it myself.
DeleteWithout see the thumbnail credit, I thought the newspaper was my country's. This is so, so sad for all involved.
ReplyDelete