Comprehensive supporters “would stick pins in their eyes” sooner than agree with someone like you.

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Alastair Campbell, comprehensive zealots, Fiona Millar, Free Schools, Lord Adonis, Mail on Sunday, Toby Young

A former Labour Education Minister, Lord Adonis, warned against giving ground to Labour critics of the Coalition Government’s “free schools” because they would seize on any concession and “move in for the kill”

Lord Adonis said opponents of the schools such as the journalist Fiona Millar, partner of Tony Blair’s former spin doctor, Alistair Campbell “would stick pins in their eyes” sooner than agree with any aspect of the flagship policy, which switches power from town halls to parents.

 

When Toby Young asked Andrew Adonis if rather than dealing with his opponents agressively he should enter talks with people such as Fiona Millar, who, like her partner, is a strong supporters of comprehensives. Young reported that Adonis gave him a withering look of contempt and said “they are not interested in constructive dialogue”

“Don’t you get it? If you extend any sort of olive branch they’ll see it a s a sign of weakness and move in for the kill. I dealt with the same people – the Socialist Workers Party, the Anti-Academies Alliance,the NUT – for most of my ministerial career and they would rather stick pins in their eyes than admit they have common ground with someone like you. Their attitude to free schools is the same as to academies: they wont’ rest until every last one has been razed to the ground”

Lord Adonis, former Labour Education Secretary speaking to Toby Young

Do N.I. parents not have the same rights as parents elsewhere in the UK? Second class representation on exams cheating

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CCEA, Exam cheats, Stormont Education Committee, UK Education Select Committee

If a better example of how the Northern Ireland Executive and Assembly (108 MLAs) have failed to represent the interests of parents and pupils on education matters it would be hard to find. The media have poured torrents of ink and pixels over concerns about cheating by exam boards. This week the UK Parliament Education Committee met in  Select Committee to hear evidence on the matter. One group was missing. Yes –  you have probably guessed it by now. None other than CCEA, the Northern Ireland Council for Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment.  CCEA were the exams body caught up in examination errors and a spending scandal in the summer. It seems they are beyond accountability. Parents and pupils are paying for this and accepting second-class service. Your MLA is doing nothing to represent your interests. Think carefully about what this will mean for your children and their CCEA certificates when they wave them in front of a university or employer.

GL Assessment fail to act in 11-plus cheating scandal

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BBC Northern Ireland Education Correspondent, Catholic Principals Association, CPA, DENI, GL Assessment, GL Assessment tests, Leaked 11-plus exam papers, Maggie Taggart, UTV

Back in May 2011 UTV broadcast a story of parents reporting the leaking of the 2009 GL Assessment 11-plus test in a Catholic Grammar School.

According to the Belfast Telegraph of Tuesday 13th December,2011

“It is understood the school at the centre of the scandal, which has not been   named, [why not since the school committed a breach of contract?] photocopied the 2009 GL Assessment English and maths papers, later    used as a practice paper to prepare some children for the 2010 transfer test.

Copying the papers was in contravention of the school’s contractual agreement   with the English-based GL, which is responsible for the tests’ content.”

See: http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/education/school-in-breach-of-transfer-test-security-16090244.html#ixzz1gdyP7s2H

Note in the UTV extract the statement from Fintan Murphy of the Catholic Principals Association.

On foot of this story GL Assessment issued a Press Release. Note the claim from GL Assessment that:

If this allegation is substantiated it would constitute a breech of security  and copyright by the school involved

Today, after months of delay, Education Minister, John O’Dowd released the findings of his so-called investigation into the matter of  those given the test in advance of the 2010 PPTC  transfer test. There is no doubt that those who saw the 2009 paper had an advantage. As usual the BBC NI Education Correspondent, Maggie Taggart, entirely missed the fundamentals of this issue and gave the Minister’s nonsense views precedence over the failure to hold to account those responsible for valid and reliable testing. Perhaps parents are failing to appreciate the abject failure of the professionals in education to get to the core of issues involving very serious matters concerning their childrens future. The important message in the BBC report demonstrates the arrogance of the educationalists position.

“A claim that the 2009 test had been leaked could not be investigated because those involved wanted to remain anonymous”

Exam Boards cheating scandal

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AQA, CCEA, Daily Telegraph, Edexcel, Exam Boards, Exam cheats, OCR, Ofqual, WJEC

The Daily Telegraph failed to mention CCEA, the Northern Ireland exams body which is also the regulator for Northern Ireland. What confidence can parents, pupils and the public  have in this conflict of interest in the provision of qualifications?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/secondaryeducation/8943291/Exam-boards-could-be-closed-down-over-cheating-revelations.html#disqus_thread

Glenys Stacey said the regulator would be

 “looking in detail at just these   possible conflicts of interests in the provision of qualifications”.

And she outlined a number of sanctions available to Ofqual including pulling   “examinations set for January and for next summer with awarding bodies   providing substitute scripts”.