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Official Report: search what was said in Parliament

The Official Report is a written record of public meetings of the Parliament and committees.  

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Dates of parliamentary sessions
  1. Session 1: 12 May 1999 to 31 March 2003
  2. Session 2: 7 May 2003 to 2 April 2007
  3. Session 3: 9 May 2007 to 22 March 2011
  4. Session 4: 11 May 2011 to 23 March 2016
  5. Session 5: 12 May 2016 to 5 May 2021
  6. Current session: 12 May 2021 to 20 August 2025
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Displaying 2406 contributions

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Education, Children and Young People Committee

Alternative Certification Model

Meeting date: 22 September 2021

Stephen Kerr

It is interesting that the OECD called on us to restate and re-evaluate our vision of curriculum for excellence, which, in essence, is what you have just both said. Ross Greer has a supplementary question on this.

Education, Children and Young People Committee

Alternative Certification Model

Meeting date: 22 September 2021

Stephen Kerr

There was a broadband blip at the start of the question. Could you repeat the first 15 seconds or so?

Education, Children and Young People Committee

Alternative Certification Model

Meeting date: 22 September 2021

Stephen Kerr

Just.

Education, Children and Young People Committee

Alternative Certification Model

Meeting date: 22 September 2021

Stephen Kerr

In your submission, you mention a number of times that you believe that there was a hugely political dimension. On page 3, you mention the awareness of the forthcoming Scottish Parliament elections. How much of the decision making in the process was driven, in your view, by a political agenda from the Scottish Government?

Education, Children and Young People Committee

Alternative Certification Model

Meeting date: 22 September 2021

Stephen Kerr

There were a lot of noises off, as you call them, in political terms. Education is a huge issue in Scotland. It is a priority in people’s lives, and that is a jolly good thing. However, the Government was clearly in the driving seat and making the decisions.

There are many questions that I could ask, but I will put just one more question to you, because I want to bring my colleagues in. On the sampling issue, you make in your submission the rather incendiary comment that

“the EIS’s trust in teacher judgement was not matched by that of the Scottish Government”.

On what basis do you say that?

11:15  

Education, Children and Young People Committee

Alternative Certification Model

Meeting date: 22 September 2021

Stephen Kerr

The point that I am trying to make is that you are saying something fairly damning about the Scottish Government’s trust and belief in teachers.

Before I bring in Kaukab Stewart, the deputy convener, I have a question for Tara Lillis on a subject that we touched on with the previous panel. Tara, you mention in your submission the concept of overassessment and the compression that went on in the assessments this year. Have you or any of your members sought to define that? If so, what conclusions have you reached?

Education, Children and Young People Committee

Alternative Certification Model

Meeting date: 22 September 2021

Stephen Kerr

Before we hear from the first of our panels, I would like to thank all the young people who took the time to speak with us informally last week about their experiences of the alternative certification model. We really appreciate their taking the time to let us know their thoughts on what it was like for them, and how they think assessment could best be managed in future. They really were a credit to themselves. I hope that they found it as helpful as we did. It certainly provided us with a great deal of insight into the issues from their perspective. An anonymised summary of their views is provided in the committee’s public papers this week.

Our first panel of witnesses on the alternative certification model in 2021 are from the Association of Directors of Education in Scotland. We have with us Tony McDaid, executive director of education resources with South Lanarkshire Council, and Audrey May, head of service, children and families, with Dundee City Council. I welcome you both to the meeting. Does either of you have any initial comments that you would like to make before we get into the questions?

Education, Children and Young People Committee

Alternative Certification Model

Meeting date: 22 September 2021

Stephen Kerr

Audrey, do you feel the same way?

Education, Children and Young People Committee

Alternative Certification Model

Meeting date: 22 September 2021

Stephen Kerr

Collectively as a committee, we are determined that we want to hear from young people and that we want their voices to be heard in an unfiltered way. Last week, we had a really good experience with the young people whom we spoke to.

We will go straight into the questions. As usual, I will take the convener’s prerogative and ask questions about your experience over the last period. How well supported by the Scottish Government and the Scottish Qualifications Authority did you feel during the past 18 months?

Education, Children and Young People Committee

Alternative Certification Model

Meeting date: 22 September 2021

Stephen Kerr

I was interested in the Scottish Secondary Teachers Association’s survey, and I want to ask a question that is related to what Fergus Ewing was asking about. We were talking about demonstrated attainment. According to the survey, 36 per cent of teachers believed that the evidence that they had collected truly demonstrated their pupil’s attainment, but that means that 64 per cent did not. What is your reaction to that data? Should we be questioning it?