Monica Lennon calls out Scottish Government’s shambolic leadership in education as exam result attainment gap widens.
Monica Lennon has slammed the Scottish Government’s record on education, as exam results show the attainment gap growing on last year.
Figures from this year’s SQA results show that the difference between the proportion of pupils from the wealthiest and poorest areas getting A grades at Higher has increased to 22.1pp, its highest point since before 2017.
The gap in the Higher pass rate also increased on last year, from 6.5pp to 7.9pp, while the difference in the National 5 pass rate between the best off and the worst off increased from 7.9pp last year to 9.0pp.
Monica says “When speaking to young people and teachers from schools in Lanarkshire, I’ve been struck by their resilience in the face of seemingly endless obstacles. From the late cancellation of exams, to the shambolic roll out of the Alternative Certification Model and the appeals system which took none of this year’s extraordinary circumstances into account.”
“School pupils in Lanarkshire deserve better than a system which has widened the attainment gap, meaning that poorest pupils have been impacted the worst by SQA and Scottish Government mismanagement. I applaud teachers for their dedication to the wellbeing of their pupils while faced with these numerous fixable issues.”
“Scottish Labour call on the Scottish Government to implement a ‘re-sit guarantee’ without delay and offer a further education place to any young person impacted by the disruption of the pandemic who wishes to re-take their subjects.”