Stormont education minister criticised for ‘following London’ over A-level grading
SDLP MLA Daniel McCrossan has criticised Stormont education minister Peter Weir for “following the approach of London” in terms of A-level grades.
In a special recall of the Northern Ireland Assembly, Mr Crossan described the downgrading of A-level grades as “unforgivable”, adding the system “failed them incredibly”.
He welcomed Mr Weir’s u-turn on Monday from centralised standardisation to teacher’s estimates following an outcry over last Thursday’s results.
Around 11,000 grades were downgraded from teacher’s estimates.
Mr McCrossan questioned whether Mr Weir had taken his lead from the Westminster government.
“Are we here as representatives for the people of Northern Ireland or are we here to take our lead from London?,” he asked.
“Are we here to put first the best interests of our young people, our teachers, or are we to follow the London, the British government, in relation to their agendas?”
Mr McCrossan warned “huge damage” has been caused.
“There’s really serious questions about what has happened here, and, yes, we’re in a better position today than yesterday, but there’s still huge damage that has been caused to the mental health of young people, and teachers have been offended and annoyed,” he said.
He also challenged Mr Weir to publish the algorithm used to calculate grades.
DUP MLA Maurice Bradley rose to defend the minister, describing the pandemic that caused the decision that students would not sit exams this year as “unprecedented times”.
“In an ideal world young people would have been able to sit their examinations as normal, however we are not in an ideal world,” he told the Assembly.
“It was a case of ‘you can’t do right for doing wrong’ and I am pleased the minister has listened to the concerns outlined by students and teachers throughout Northern Ireland.
“I believe that the minister’s decision to revert to the predicted grades to the correct one.”
The Assembly was recalled prior to Mr Weir’s decision to go with teacher estimate grades.
The motion for debate was amended to focus on the “immense stress, anxiety and disruption” to “many students”, and called for the Executive “to provide clarity and guidance to students and educational institutions”.
Earlier Economy Minister Diane Dodds said additional places and extra resources will be required at universities, adding she is “working with Executive colleagues to ensure this happens as soon as possible”.
