I AM an ordinary teacher in a secondary school and an EIS member. I am writing to convey my despair at the utter failure of those in power in education to protect pupils from the worst excesses of the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) imposition of pointless assessment and bureaucracy throughout the senior school.
We secondary classroom teachers have been waiting patiently, but lately with increasing anxiety that we are not being listened to and our pupils are being denied the education they deserve.
No one is daring to tell the truth: that the SQA has become the worst kind of quango, accountable to no one, least of all the young people it exists to serve and the teachers who try to guide these learners through the maze of qualifications.
Many have deemed teachers' attempts to resolve the problems as a workload issue, but in fact this is about watching the entire senior school cohort who have to be persuaded and coaxed through yet another internal assessment, some of which bear no relevance to the final exam they will sit.
With up to 29 assessment standards to "tick off" senior school has become a spiritless and unhappy time. Able and conscientious pupils are panicking and stressed while the less motivated have become passive, no longer questioning, just getting it over with. As the curriculum changes progressed my colleagues and I hoped we had seen the worst. We were wrong: this year has been even worse.
For the first time in my years of teaching English to S4 pupils, I had to face the painful realisation that there was no way we could find time to read Macbeth because we had internal assessments and exams to slog through. So, instead of Shakespeare, we did so-called listening and reading assessments which ask them pointless and baffling questions. I wonder if some of them will ever get the chance to study Shakespeare again?
Our pupils are being cheated out of their birthright to a real education. They do not know what is wrong: many are coming to the conclusion that it is themselves. The alarming rise in mental health issues in our schools is no coincidence.
It is not too late to turn this around. It's not as if we are asking the SQA to scrap everything that has been done and start again. The SQA could simply listen to teachers and drop all the unnecessary internal assessments.
Parents and pupils, please help us in this fight. Every voice is needed to increase the pressure and save our curriculum. This is not about teacher workload. This is about finding a balance between meaningful assessment and obsessive measurement. This is about allowing us to build up our young people's well-being and resilience, while giving them an education that brings out the best in them.
Naomi Westwood,
14 North Corran, Ardgour, Fort William.
HIGHER education has not had the attention that it deserves in the campaign for the Scottish Parliament elections.
Scotland’s universities are ready to meet the challenge of an increasingly competitive global environment. But they need government action to relieve the pressure on their finances, and to help them to grow and to attract more students from overseas and from less privileged backgrounds in this country.
Political leaders need to give serious thought to a new funding model for Scottish universities, so that they can compete fairly with those south of the Border, where the fees regime gives universities considerable financial firepower in improving facilities and attracting students and staff. Meanwhile, the University of Aberdeen faces a 3.9 per cent funding cut this year (compared to a Scottish average cut of 3.3 per cetnt) while coping with higher national insurance and pension costs.
However, even with the current resources squeeze, thousands more young Scots could be enrolled in Scotland’s universities if the Government would only lift the cap on the number of publicly funded undergraduate Scots. Aberdeen University would gladly open its doors to more Scottish students.
Current UK immigration policy has harmed the reputation of whole of the UK as a destination for overseas students. While I recognise that this is a UK matter, I support the call from Holyrood’s devolution committee to restore the post study work visa in Scotland to enable our universities to compete globally, to maintain a cosmopolitan student experience and to generate much-needed fee income.
I deplore the waste of talent represented by the relatively low number of students from deprived backgrounds, and welcome the Government’s commitment to widening access, which enhances the life changes of thousands of bright young people: in this way, higher education can contribute to the national goal of alleviating poverty and deprivation.
However, I call on the Government to devise a better measure of universities’ success in widening access – currently, only students from specific areas, defined by the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation, count as widening access students. Aberdeen University, which has fewer of these areas in its “back yard” is proud of its efforts to nurture students from deprived backgrounds – pockets of deprivation exist even in the most affluent parts of Scotland. Universities should be recognised for success in widening access, and not penalised for their location.
I further urge the Government to reverse the cut in funding for widening access to Aberdeen University in 2016/17.
The Scottish universities are operating in a highly competitive global environment, in which they continue to punch well above the country’s weight. Scottish teaching and research has – rightly – a strong reputation around the world, but constant effort and vigilance are required as other countries invest political time and money to raise their universities to match the world’s best.
Scotland’s universities play a vital role in Scottish life, and I urge parties and candidates campaigning for office to make their views known on how the next Scottish Parliament should support them over the next four years.
Colin Duncan,
6 Alloway, Ayr.
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