Pressure mounting on Education Minister to cancel 2021 exams
Last updated 11th Nov 2020
Education Minister, Peter Weir, has received a backlash about his decision not to cancel A Level and GCSE examinations next year.
He told Downtown Radio and Cool FM that exams will go ahead next year as planned because exams remain the fairest method of assessing and awarding qualifications.
It is after Welsh Education Minister, Kirsty Williams, revealed plans to cancel summer 2021 exams for all GCSE, AS and A-Level students yesterday (Tuesday).
Instead, grades will be based on classroom assessments.
Following the announcement Mr Weir said similar action would not be taken in Northern Ireland.
However, Northern Ireland's Children's Commissioner has hit back at the Ministers decision.
Koulla Yiasouma said that the current situation was untenable'' for schools and young people, and that immediate action must be taken to alleviate it.
She said: I have since engaged with other young people, teaching unions and the Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment (CCEA) and I am absolutely clear: the current situation is untenable and the Minister must move to protect the health and wellbeing of our young people.
My suggestion would be to cancel exams.
“However, if the minister can come up with an alternative that will dramatically alleviate the stress that young people are under as a result of continuous assessments, then I am very willing to listen.''
Ms Yiasouma expressed some sympathy with the Minister's desire to avoid doing a solo run'' on cancelling exams because young people will have to compete with young people across the UK for jobs and universities.
However, she added that young people were suffering mentally'' in a bid to ensure every assignment and class test was perfect.
She added: Young people have reported being continuously assessed, and indeed principals and teachers have confirmed they are continuously assessing.
This means young people are in constant 'exam stress' mode. They are suffering mentally, and it cannot continue for the rest of the school year.”
Teachers Unions have also called on the Education Minister to reconsider an alternative to traditional examinations.
Kevin Daly, an Official from the National Teachers’ Organisation (into) said:
Into calls on the minister to take decisive, timely and clear action to move toward an alternative to traditional examinations.''
The National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) has also called on the Minister to deliver a fair system that addresses the needs of all pupils.
It said: We remain highly concerned that the minister has prioritised the examinations system over the needs and well-being of our students.
Given the current climate, it is vital that mitigations and contingency plans are provided, and schools, pupils and parents are reassured that the exam fiasco of 2020 will not be repeated.''
Responding to the news MLA Robbie Butler, a member of the Education Committee, said that Mr Weir should as a matter of priority detail an appropriate scheme that recognises the lost classroom time due to Covid-19.
He said: “The news from the Welsh Education Minister Kirsty Williams that GCSE, AS and A Level exam in Wales will be cancelled in 2021 follows the announcement earlier this month from her Scottish counterpart that their equivalent for GCSEs would be replaced.
“The intervention locally with the Commissioner for Children and Young People, Koulla Yiasouma and our Mental Health Champion Siobhan O’Neill both calling for a cancellation and alternative process adds serious weight to the growing calls on Peter Weir to put the wellbeing of our students first and develop robust provisions that don’t echo the disastrous iteration of the algorithm for the 2020 cohort.
“Protect the value of the hard work undertaken by our students, copper fasten the wellbeing of this cohort of students and finally, ensure that the examination award is robust and holds its value with Universities and schools across these Islands.”