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PUPILS IN SCOTLAND who had their recent exam results downgraded will not all be expected to appeal against them, Nicola Sturgeon has said.
The First Minister said too much focus was given to the system rather than individuals and apologised to those affected – seeming to acknowledge those in more deprived areas were hardest hit.
She said Education Secretary John Swinney will set out a plan to rectify the matter at the Scottish Parliament tomorrow.
“We will be taking steps to ensure that every young person gets a grade that recognises the work they have done,” Sturgeon said.
Our concern – which was to make sure that the grades young people got were as valid as those they would have got in any other year – perhaps led us to think too much about the overall system and not enough about the individual pupil.
“That has meant that too many have lost out on grades that they think they should have had and also that that has happened as a result, not of anything they’ve done, but because of a statistical model or an algorithm, and in addition that burden has not fallen equally across our society.”
She added: “Despite our best intentions, I do acknowledge we did not get this right and I’m sorry for that.
“The most immediate challenge is to resolve the grades awarded to pupils this year. We will not expect every student who has been downgraded to appeal.”
Calls to resign
With no exams this year due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) applied a methodology whereby grades estimated by teachers were downgraded based on criteria, including the historic performance of the school.
Pass rates for pupils in the most deprived data zones were reduced by 15.2% in comparison with 6.9% for pupils from the most affluent backgrounds.
Swinney has faced calls to resign from opposition parties, with Scottish Labour set to mount a no-confidence vote against him in Holyrood and the Conservatives saying they will support it.
The First Minister reiterated her support for her deputy at the briefing.
She said: “When we get things wrong, I want to be able to stand here and acknowledge that and put it right, because I think fundamentally that’s better than simply digging our heels in and trying to defend a position we think in our hearts we didn’t get right.
That’s the approach I will take, it’s the approach the Deputy First Minister is going to take and I hope that’s the one that young people affected and their families will see as the right approach to take.
The First Minister also said she is “not prepared” to have young people feel that “no matter how hard they work at school, no matter how seriously they take education, the system is stacked against them”.
While the SQA developed the methodology, the First Minister “absolved” the qualifications authority of responsibility because it was done at the behest of Scottish ministers.
She said: “Ministers asked the SQA to apply an approach that delivered a set of results that are comparable in terms of quality to last year’s.
“This is a view that ministers are taking now that it didn’t take enough account of the individual circumstances.”
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Or Fine Gael could rename themselves the Conservative Party…
dont forget to add labour to that party!
And they could be led by our very own working class Tory Brian Hayes
The most logical merger would be between FF and FG. FG would stop FF’s worst corrupt impulses, which and FF would make FG at least not sound as pompous. Both deserve each other.
Brian Hayes working class? I don’t think he sprung from working class stock at all. Though definitely a solid Tory
Derek Keating? Never heard of him before and this is what he produces after 18 months in government. Hope those who elected him are proud of their selection.
Kerry, I voted for him, had known him as a decent councillor when he was an Independent. He had a good record prior to his election to the Dail. However, I will admit that my view has changed completely since. I have requested several pieces of information from him regarding his actions within the Dail and those of his party and have found him to be extremely difficult to get anything from now. I can guarantee you I will never be voting for him ever again. He has fallen into the shoes of those he bemoaned when not in office.
The ironic thing he, he has done his rounds. Started in FF, moved to the PDs, became an Indo, and finally got recognition within FG. He certainly has grown a neck since he joined Ednas girls, pity he didnt retain his vision of those who put him there in the first place. He has turned into just a smarmy copy of his lapdog leader.
Thanks for that Mark. I suspect you have described the blue print for FG like all other parties power for the sake of it and little else.
Aaaaaahhhhh do me a favour. Is that the same party that ruined this country. Ireland has never had a left wing government now is the time. No need for deals or excuses FF or FG makes no difference SF needs a chance and I never thought I would say that when I moved over to Ireland in 1980. GMAO
They all do. Once they see their fat wage package
Arrogance!
Re two parties squabbling and fighting for their existence… Pot Kettle Black?
Give me SF on their own please Vinnie
Good jaysus the worst of the left and the worst of the corrupt centre in one party.
I’m in
SF would b mad !!!
They don’t need the Finna failures !!!!
This isn’t uncommon, Gangsters regularly put their differences aside to merge for profit.
Johnny, I couldn’t agree with you more based on the history of the Irish republic…
FFG labour
FF labour
FF PDs
FF and FFG are one and the same..
Remind me of Michael Jackson and his sister, you just never saw the two of return together, but we ask know we were dealing with one and the same lunacy. They always have the same press office in labour, but we know they are ask the same and labour facilitate it.
Has this Keating from Fine Gael nothing better to say following his party’s brutal budget yesterday that has and will push many families over the edge….. Shows how far removed from the real world these overpaid over rated bloated politicians are.
not a hope in hell would sinn fein go into government with Micheal Martin they listen to their voters and they value their support
*facepalm*
Of course the value their support. They need safe houses.
@Vincent… you’re on a fire this evening… the shinner-bots will fritz out any second now.
Sinn Fáil
As if FF need another reason for people not to vote for them… And do SF want to get into bed with criminals (again)??
Who you calling criminals ? Bit rich a Sinn Fein supporter calling any party criminals on what they supported for over 30 years in the north and still at it.
Oliver. I’ll give u a nice brown envelope, if you run a long.
It was a hard step I’d say for the Shinners to share power with the DUP, a party packed with anti Irish bigots and Loyalist gunmen but to share power or work with a party so full of traitors and thieves as FF is beyond possibility.
I knew the day would come when Id agree with Sinn Fein on something.
FF and FG joining would make a lot more sense, they have absolutely no distinguishing differences.
(And it would save a fortune!)
Oisin
How would it save a fortune and what’s a fortune?
Ah they do.
FG is conservative.
FF is more like conservative, except when popular opinion requires them to be less conservative in order to stay in power.
I age with your point about FF, but I have to ask, have you ever seen the videos of Enda saying the purity tax is immoral, or the one where he was on the campaign trail and was videos trekking someone in a wheelchair that he was the leader of the party that would not allow cuts to the disabled. Hee didn’t know he was being videod, and was forced by public reaction 9 months later into forcing a retraction of the bill to reduce their allowances.
Don’t get me started on labour, protecting Childrens allowances, or FFGs not one red cent, of that gombeen quinn from labour, signing a pledge 22 months ago not to further increase student registration fees.
I personally believe that any parties that sign any documents on their parties behalf, as part of an election pledge, should be forced to go back to the electorate, if they want to break one of those signed pledges, or video pledges.
I’m not sure what looks like the best example of an Onion,, the article or your man.
f..ck the lot of them,just do your own thing….they are!
And Fine Gael to merge with The Monster Raving Loony Party?
Thought they were in coalition with them !!
That will be great for Deputy Keating-another party for him to join. Was he not a member of FF and PDs and Independent and now FG!!!
Says all you need to know about the man, a member of FG, FF and the PD’s. Be involved in one of them is a bad sign of a man as is, but all three. Super turd.
Sinn Fáil is a far better name ( our destiny ). Fianna Féin just means soldier selves ?? I shall post you a copy of Ó Siochfradha’s dictionary for christmas if you would like ??
Better off sending him Harry Potter… he seems to like fantasy.
Email the dictionary. They can print it off themselves. Shinners are swimming in ink cartridges.
Be careful what you wish for, most parties in Ireland would do anything for power i.e. Labour!
Bye Bye Enda and Eamon doesn’t matter what they say or do now their finished. PD’s anyone!!!!!! The Irish People may be pushovers but we have long memories. Their days are numbered. If Sinn Fein is the alternative then so be it, seriously cannot be any worse.
The PDs? Are you for real?
Aww jeasus Micheal, Chillax, i wasn’t suggesting that any one vote for the PDs, sure have they not gone the way of the dodo. I was pointing out that come the next election Enda and Eamon will face the same fate. In a few years time we’ll be sitting in our cardboard boxes or Austrailia saying “do you remember that boy Enda, you know the one that made us all pay for the mistakes of others, and drove our children out of the country”
Fianna Fáil should disband, allow another party to emerge cleansed of the corruption and the sense of entitlement to power that was and is so inherent in Fianna Fáil and provide the strong opposition that a healthy Democracy requires. In doing so, they should wipe the floor with Sinn Fein and consign them to history where they belong.
Fine Gael also, two very corrupt parties!
Hey, hey, hey! Heeeere’s Krusty!
No show at Fossetts tonight, Stephen?
A re branded me feiner is still a me feiner. Just confine FF to the bin at next election and chalk the last 80yrs of Mis rule to experience.
Is that the best you can do, a habit of FG is to insult instead of using intelligent replies!
#Stephen- I could have asked you to substantiate your unfounded description of the Fine Gael party as corrupt but what would be the point?
Messrs Lowry and O’Brien don’t ring any bells, I take it?
he suffers with selective amnesia the poor man
#Denis O’Brien was in Fine Gael was he? Remember FG threw Lowry out of the party. FF let him order off the menu as an independent to keep them in power. And the very fact that you had to back 15+ years to a guy who was expelled speaks volumes. No party is 100% clean. You can only judge them by how they react when incidents arise.
vincent
then judge james reilly and probably more importantly explain enda kenny backing the man?
Simple reason I had to go back that far, Vincent. The Blueshirts spent a good decade and a half as an unelectable shambles, and there’s not much point bribing a party that hasn’t got the remotest chance of influencing anything. Expect normal service to be resumed shortly.
Granted, quite a few councillors were named by Alan Mahon:
Of the current scatter, Mr Reilly’s behaviour is hardly ethical, in fact it seems pretty corrupt to me:
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/frontpage/2012/1205/1224327510118.html
But we don’t know the half of it … yet.
I think you need to look up the term “corruption”, Frank. Unfortunately, you won’t find it in Chairman Mao’s Little Red Book- so you’ll have to put it down and find another one.
#Voodoo- “seems pretty corrupt to me”- I didn’t realise that we’re allowed define our own words. That’s going to make it tricky for the courts. And I didn’t say FG were squeaky clean. You suggested that the party was inherently corrupt. A point you have failed to substantiate. But why let facts get in the way of lazy, populist rhetoric, eh?
Getting a bit hot under the collar, there, Vinny?
Well, then, let’s call a spade a spade. Favouring your own constituency for political reasons is corruption, pure and simple – a Minister, TD’s or Councillor’s electoral prospects is not a sufficient reason to make a decision to spend public money, it must be based on evidence and the real needs of every area.
vincent i dont read mao and i will tell you why because its corruptthe polit bureau are the new capitalists
i read fact
and these are the facts
Disparity between rich and poor has increased since this government came to power and thats a step in the wrong direction
This is an excerpt from a very interesting book called the spirit level and it explains why disparity must be eradicated
“The big idea is that what matters in determining mortality and health in a society is less the overall wealth of that society and more how evenly that wealth is distributed. The more equally wealth is distributed the better the health of that society.”
Babies born in the USA (the least equal developed nation apart from Singapore) are twice as likely to die in their first year than babies in Japan (the most equal developed nation), and life expectancy in Sweden (fourth most equal) is three years greater than in the USA. And these figures are averages across all classes in a society. “Health disparities are not simply a contrast between the ill health of the poor and the better health of everyone else. Instead, they run right across society so that even the reasonably well off have shorter lives than the very rich.” Although the benefits of greater equality are biggest for the lower classes,
“greater equality brings substantial gains even in the top occupational class and among the richest or best educated quarter or third of the population”.
The more unequal a rich country is, the worse its performance is likely to be in a whole range of variables including:
life expectancy
infant mortality
obesity
child wellbeing
amount of mental illness
use of illegal drugs
teenage pregnancy rates
homicide
fighting and bullying among children
imprisonment rates
levels of mutual trust between citizens
maths and literacy attainment
social mobility (children rising in social scale compared with their parents)
the status of women
inventiveness and innovation
waste recycling
spending on foreign aid
#Voodoo- “based on evidence”, you say? And your evidence re: Reilly is where? Hypocrite.
#Frank- you didn’t expect me to actually read that, did you?
you would be doing yourself a disservice if you didnt vincent buy hey we all have free will
Evidence of need informed the list of primary care centres which was drawn up by the HSE, who, for all their faults, are the ones who have the experience in that area.
James Reilly added two extra centres in his own constituency at the last minute, that’s an incontrovertible fact. Read the Irish Times piece linked above.
Then there’s also the fact that he’d spoken to NAMA about it in advance, despite the fact that Shortall and the HSE were the ones who should have been drawing up the list:
Look up, Blind stupidity and you’ll find a picture of Vincent along side it!
#Voodoo- that’s all very interesting. There’s two sides to corruption. One is that you did something, for example in this case adding the two to the list. The other is that you benefitted from it. And your evidence of some sort of pay off for Reilly is where? On the subject of corruption- you know the money laundering, bank robbing, drug dealing and protection money rackets that your SF party were involved in- any of that defined as “corruption” in your book?
#Stephen- profound, man. Really made me think, that.
“And your evidence of some sort of pay off for Reilly is where?”
If he makes it ’till the next election, which is doubtful in the extreme, you can bet that he’s hoping for an electoral dividend for taking care of his constituents. It’s an unwarranted appropriation of public funds for private purpose – Reilly’s vote count. Corruption. Simple as that.
As for the Sinner bit, nice try Vinny, but I’m not a member of Sinn Féin, I’m don’t supporth Sinn Féin, I’ve never voted Sinn Féin and I don’t know anyone who is in Sinn Féin. They’re got a dirty, dirty history, but that doesn’t detract in the slightest from the kind of gombeen politics that the Blueshirts are dug into.
#voodoo. Every politician in the history of Democracy would have to be indicted on corruption charges if throwing a bone to key constituents to get fee elected was actually corruption. Not that I accept Reilly did that. As for Sinn Fein, given your Ode to Gerry Adams on the later thread this evening, I find your disavowal hard to believe. And let’s face it, Shinners have form when it comes to denying membership….
Frank I cannot comment on having read the book but it is part of my reading for the year and some of the findings and what is written in it makes an awful lot of sense if only so many people read it they would know more and b in more of a position to talk about equality
Ok, Vinny, so gombeen politics is just fine when it’s the Blueshirts that are doing it, and anyone who has a more nuanced take on the history of the Troubles than pointing at the Sinners and shouting “MURDERER” is clearly some kind of fellow traveller.
You’ve made yourself perfectly clear … again.
David
its a great read
while politics have a role its more about what we want as a society and how by making society better we make our lives better. in a recent oced report ireland was rated the worst country in the eu in terms of disparity of wealth,
read the book and see what the consequences of that are
Can Fine Gael advice why Lowry was not prosecuted?
Or has he (Lowry) something on Enda?
Just asking??
Sometimes it’s good to probe?
When Hell Freezes Over!
In a few days, now!
Sinn Fein are a credible alternative and going on past experience they’re looking good in the next election. Gerry Adams as Taoiseach well I don’t think that’d go down well at all. However Mary Lou McDonald could be a runner and she has plenty of fight in her and I think she might just be the person to stand up to Zee Germans. I’d much prefer her or Pierce Doherty to be fighting for a deal than “Shutup and do as your told Kenny” or ” Blindboy Noonan”
Someone who could tell us what really went on the night of the bank guarantee would be most welcome. However I fear that night has been so cleverly covered up that Professor Layton would have to be called to uncover the mystery…
Finally as for a Fianna Fáil and Sinn Fein alliance, I think it’s a smokescreen for the Fianna boys to get back into power and then dump the Sinn’ers when they get it.
I’d rather spend a night stuck in an elevator with Jim Allister than be in the same party as Martin, O’Dea, Power and the rest of the economically illiterate hypocrites.
A desperate attempt to try to deflect from the unjust budget
Methinks Mr. Keating is getting worried. He must realise that Eoin O’Broin is going to tear him a new one come next election.
Does anyone really take FF seriously anymore?
I never thought they were worth any media time whatsoever given their betrayal of this island.
Nope. But, then again I cannot take Enda’s and Eamon’s crew seriously either seeing as they are following slavishly in FF droppings. Hopefully some new parties will appear in the political landscape soon or we will be condemned to voting for pretty useless representatives,
Vincent dolan ……is there any chance your keyboard might blow up so that overtime I go onto the journal I don’t have to read your opinion on every article….must be a lonely existence you have ,hiding behind a computer and arguing everything.
DEPUTY KEATING WONT BE IN NEXT DAIL SO WHAT HE SAYS MATTERS LITTLE
please stop feeding this absolute troll of a TD.
Loud sounds of Fianner Fail ers crapping themselves at the thought!!
It doesn’t matter who gets in, their all the same, full of promises prior to elections & broken promises when elected!!!! And to think we pay them for this!!! I rest my case.
Deflecting from main issue of Respite care withdrawal of service. Primary importance to any political party that have been given a mandate to govern and protect the weak and vulnerable of which the said TD has missed the main point of governing with remarks which to any logical person would know what this politician is not about.
Aaahh lads would you all stop yer bickering and concentrate on the important subject … The BUDGET…Hmm any spin doctors around
When I look across the floor of Dail Éireann at the Government benches, all I see is squabbling between two parties who are fighting for their own existence. Perhaps if they merged, we would then have a Government that, instead of trying to outdo each other, would be focused on putting forward policy suggestions that would benefit the country.
Plonkers all.
M? F?in more like!
I won’t be voting anyway for them to be elected ,sad to see a country and there people so messed about
Christy Moore for Taioseach!!
Derek Keating words were just meant as an insult, FG/Labour are scared that this will be there last time in politics.
I would know a great name for them……”A bunch of B(&^&%ds”
Politicians are politicians no matter what populism they are spouting in opposition. They have survived this long as we tend to forget that at the polls and get caught up in the election mania and hope for change..but there never is.
Thanks for the Béal bocht speech. Woe is us, it is all very bad, sure dere all the same, yada yada yada. Quitter talk.
Genuinely interested Richard_Barrow can you point to any differences between FG and FF today?
Kerry, obviously he can’t. That is why people now refer to them as FFG…. But as far as.both parties are concerned, anything that takes the attention off the budget, id a great news story for FFG/labour.
@Richard: Who says Im quitting?
Sinn Féin are just Fianna Fáil with guns in the attic.
**every
Sinn-a Fianna Fáil….
‘Fine Fail’ is a much comfier fit and would reflect the ‘failed’ economic approach both Fianna Fail & Fine Gael are applying to the economic crisis!
fine gael and sinn fein merge….the resultant party would be….(drum roll)….sinn fein!!
Well it’s is very likely that ff and sf will be in power as fg and lab are not tackling the real cost to us ie banks , bolted civil service , their own expenses that do not require a receipt and unaccountable county councils that will now get our property tax and waste it.
All the existing parties could merge to become “duinn fein” …for ourselves !
have your say