This evening , the Scottish Labour party have announced plans to table a motion of no confidence in the Deputy First Minister and education secretary John Swinney over his handling of the SQA results controversy
The Scottish Labour party have raised concerns after they claim to have saw information which suggests the possibility that students who appeal their grades may have to wait until 2021 for any outcome as students who are attempting to go to university would be assessed first.
Commenting on the appeals process, an SQA spokesperson said:
“There is no nine month wait for grades. This was a meaningless date set as part of a technical requirement to allow the system to go live.
“The results of the priority appeals will be emailed to schools and colleges for learners by 4th September.
“We are committed to processing all appeals as quickly as possible. We will provide a date for all other reviews shortly after 21st August.”
The Scottish Conservative Party tweeted their support saying “We will support a motion of no confidence against the education secretary. It’s clear that he has lost the trust of parents, teachers and pupils following the exam results scandal.”
The motion follows the release of SQA results for school pupils in Scotland earlier this week which led to accusations of classism in the moderation process of the SQA after data showed a large percentage point gap in the lowering of the pass rate between pupils from the most deprived areas in comparison to those who attended schools in the most affulent areas of Scotland.
During a Scottish Government coronavirus briefing , First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said that the moderation process conducted by the SQA was required to ““command the confidence of colleges and universities and employers” but did say that students should use the appeals process if there was “genuine individual injustices”.
Earlier today school pupils protested outside the SQA building in Glasgow holding placards with messages like “judge my work,not my postcode”
Feature Image credit:Holyrood.com
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