Shropshire Star comment: Even more confusion for pupils
As Shropshire’s youngsters left their exams in the summer, they may have said to themselves: “Thank heavens that’s all over.”
For some students, it really was all over. For some others, it is not, and the academic nightmare will continue.
In the Shropshire Council area, 37 per cent of students did not pass GCSE maths and English. Just over 1,000 of them are now facing compulsory resits next June. In Telford & Wrekin area, the failure rate was 41 per cent, and 789 students have the resits to look forward to.
We are, of course, being ironic, as resits are not something to look forward to. They are a nuisance, holding youngsters back. Some of them will pass them second time round. Some will fail them second time round for the same reasons as they did not pass first time – they may simply not be academic, they may not be motivated, they may even have hopeless exam technique.
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They have our sympathies. Beyond the issue of pass rates and the associated issue of standards, there are more philosophical issues. Who are the exams for? And what are they for?
Michael Barratt, of The Priory School Trust, touches on these points when he says the new exam specifications enable brighter students to experience stretch and challenge, but for those who find the subjects more challenging, the new specifications are “disappointingly unsupportive.”
The new system grades exams on a scale from 1 to 9. The Government thinks it is a better system than the previous A, B, C, and so on.
There has been so much tinkering by Government in our schools that the odds have to be on an incoming administration of a different political colour wanting to put its own stamp on “improving standards”.
This is one of the frustrations of being in the teaching profession these days.
Just when you have got used to something, some politician wanting to make his or her mark on educational history announces plans for a “reform”.
The number of resits faced in this county is disappointing when by other performance yardsticks Shropshire schools seem to be doing a good job.
The big debate is continuing, so teachers crying out for a period of stability shouldn’t hold their breath.
