Education minister ‘has massively missed the point’

AN Omagh Academy student, who wrote to the Education Minister expressing concerns about how GSCE grades were being determined during the pandemic, has spoken out against the Peter Weir’s ‘disappointing’ response.

In an email to Minister Weir, pupil Daniel Hetherington penned his concerns about ‘the way the GCSE grades were being determined, and the inappropriate stress and pressure this was putting pupils under’.

The 16-year-old also outlined that he was ‘sitting more exams’ than what was usual in a pre-pandemic world, with ‘less time to prepare’.

Speaking to the UH, Daniel explained, “I was concerned about the way that GCSE grades were being determined, and the inappropriate stress and pressure this was putting pupils under. This was made much worse by the poor guidance handed down from the Minister and CCEA.

“‘I pointed out that I was sitting more exams than I would have had I sat my ‘real’ GCSEs, and if I had been sitting the real exams, I would also have had more class time to prepare for them, then I had for my assessments now.

“The minister replied,” Daniel added, “But, unfortunately, he has massively missed the point.”

It was West Tyrone SDLP MLA, Daniel McCrossan who facilitated forwarding Daniel’s concerns to Peter Weir.

“I was impressed by the way Daniel made his points,” Mr McCrossan said. “I have made these points to the minister, too, but Daniel is living through it and made his case well.

“Many pupils across Omagh, West Tyrone, and the North feel the same way.

“Unfortunately the minister, once again, has made a bad situation worse.”

Responding to Mr Hethertington’s concerns in an email addressed to Daniel McCrossan MLA, Education Minister Peter Weir wrote, “Thank you for your correspondence in relation to concerns raised by your constituent, Daniel Hetherington, regarding the CCEA alternative awarding arrangements for Summer 2021.

“GCSE, AS and A-Level qualifications were cancelled as they could not take account of the differing levels of disruption experienced by young people.

“As you will be aware, the CCEA alternative awarding arrangements for Summer 2021 require schools to determine grades for GCSE, AS and A-Level qualifications.

“Schools have been advised to make students aware of the evidence they will use in determining their grades. As such, I would encourage your constituent to liaise with his school in relation to the specific range of evidence his school is planning to use to inform his Centre Determined Grades.”

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