‘Welcome’ recognition of exam concerns

Education secretary Mike Russell is to announce today that councils can hold off implementing the new exams linked to the Curriculum for Excellence for a year. The move comes amid concerns that more time is needed to train teachers for the radically new courses and that staff could face “unmanageable workloads”.

Mr Russell is to unveil a support package to restore confidence in the beleaguered new system following “detailed discussions” with teaching unions in recent weeks.

A £3.5 million funding injection has been announced to help secondary schools pay for additional supply cover, which will release classroom teachers to prepare for the new courses. They will get an additional two in-service days.

Opposition parties say the climbdown reflects what “many teachers have been saying for some time”.

It follows a decision in January by one of Scotland’s flagship education authorities, East Renfrewshire, to delay the introduction of the new exams for a year.

At the time, Mr Russell said there were “unique circumstances” in East Renfrewshire and that the system was “on track and on time” around the rest of Scotland.

He said the measures to be announced today would “ease the workload” in the year ahead. Mr Russell said: “We want to improve the life chances of all our children and young people and it is vitally important that we remain on track with Curriculum for Excellence for the 54,000 pupils currently in S2 and deliver new qualifications on time.

“I want to reassure pupils and parents that we continue on course.”

Under Scottish Government plans, pupils now in the second year of secondary school are to be the first to sit – in 2014 – the new national exams, which replace Standard Grades and Intermediates. But headteachers have complained that they are uncertain of the detailed content of the exam courses due to start in August, which has yet to be unveiled by the Scottish Government’s exam agency the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA).

Schools will now be allowed to continue with the traditional exams instead, if they feel they are not “sufficiently on track” to switch to the new set-up by June this year. Parents and pupils will be informed of any delay before the end of the summer term.

But the government is confident that most schools will be ready to forge ahead. Mr Russell is to announce today that the new national exams will be developed “well in advance” of the start of the new qualifications.

Labour education spokesman Hugh Henry said: “This announcement from the SNP government is a belated – but welcome – recognition that there are real problems with the readiness for Curriculum for Excellence in some schools.

“Just a few weeks ago, anyone who expressed concern was accused of scaremongering and shouted down by the SNP. Mike Russell has now been forced into finding £3.5m to fix a mess that has been of his own making.”

The new open-ended curriculum allows staff to draw up most of their own lessons to make them more relevant. But critics say many of the instructions are so vague that many teachers do not know what they are doing.

The package being set out today also includes an audit to assess the “state of readiness” of schools with regard to the introduction of the new exams. A tailored package of support will be provided to schools where this is identified as necessary.

An expanded programme of SQA events for every principal subject teacher will also be held, while Education Scotland and SQA will work with teachers to develop national course materials. These materials will enable teachers to tailor their teaching for the needs of their pupils. Incoming EIS general secretary Larry Flanagan said the union “welcomes this agreement as a successful conclusion to the detailed discussions of the last few weeks. The Cabinet secretary has listened to the arguments presented.”

The measures should allow schools to progress towards National 4 and 5 exams in 2013-14, according to Mr Flanagan. “The provision of course materials in all subject areas for the new National 4 and 5 qualifications directly responds to concerns over unmanageable workload and will be very welcome in schools,” he added. “Taken together with the other measures, the package as a whole is a major step forward.”

Iain Ellis, chairman of the National Parent Forum of Scotland, said: “We hope that schools and teachers will take full advantage of these new resources and will continue with their implementation of Curriculum for Excellence.

“We anticipate this enhanced support will ensure that implementation of the curriculum is ambitious and creative, and is focused on delivering excellent learning experiences and outcomes for all of our children.”

However, Conservative education spokeswoman Liz Smith warned that the latest measures would not get to the root of the problem.

She said: “Only one thing matters in all of this and that is the best interests of all our pupils, and that is the reason why it should have been up to schools to decide whether or not to have a delay. If Mike Russell had accepted the need for this flexibility, he wouldn’t have got himself into such hot water.”