LONDON (UK) – Fresh criticism has been levelled at British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government on Thursday with regard to the way it handled grading for school exams after withdrawing the results of hundreds of thousands of students.
Education Secretary Gavin Williamson has been accused of not foreseeing a fiasco as to how teenagers who were unable to take their exams because of the COVID-19 pandemic were awarded grades.
However, exam board Pearson said, “We have become concerned about unfairness, including consistency with the approaches now being used for GCSE and A Levels.”
Schools minister Nick Gibb told BBC television, “Every step of this way there are problems you have to encounter and deal with, and we are dealing with them swiftly. We’re working, as I said, night and day to get these issues right.”
He voiced similar sentiments as Williamson’s apology for the uncertainty and confusion caused.
Kate Green, the opposition Labour Party’s education spokeswoman, said, “Gavin Williamson was warned again and again about the problems with the grading algorithm, and each time, he did nothing. This endless pattern of incompetence is no way to run a country.”
(Photos syndicated via Reuters)
This story has been edited by BH staff and is published from a syndicated field.