Sir, – Setting aside the politics of the educational chaos of the last week or so, we do now have a situation where many more young people will have the chance to go to university than would otherwise have been the case.
Some may turn out to be a bit out of their depth if they have been overmarked, but others will rise to the challenge, and their future employers will not look at what exam results they got in 2020. They will look at the last thing they did, be that university exams or work record, and make a judgment on that.
So, amid the chaos, opportunities have opened up for people who might not otherwise have had them, and things will sort themselves out.
Government will have to support them, and there will be an additional cost to that, almost certainly tens of millions of pounds, but that is a small cost compared to the cost of the pandemic.
In theory, at least, there is now a wonderful opportunity for those who should have sat exams this year to do what they want to do.
The interesting point is though, if we are to trust the marking of teachers and that it is a true reflection of the worth of their children, and the grades have gone up by 10-15%, then what has been happening for the last 10 years or so?
Has the marking system been working against poorer areas all along?
Do we have a system in Scotland where those who can afford to pay (or cost less) are given preferential treatment?
Something is badly wrong here. No other conclusion can be drawn. The pandemic has uncovered something which we need to properly understand and get to the bottom of.
We need government to support the kids of 2020, whatever that costs, but more importantly, we need to establish what has been happening in the past, and how we are going to progress in the future.
The education you receive determines your life chances more than any other factor, and also that of your children and grandchildren.
If we are getting this wrong, then the effects will be borne by individuals for the rest of the century and beyond.
Given the order of magnitude of this fiasco, and the suspicion about what might have been happening in the past, the country will be bearing the true cost for the rest of the century and beyond as well.
This will be the legacy of John Swinney, who needs to consider his position, whether the Greens support him or not.
Victor Clements.
Mamie’s Cottage,
Aberfeldy,
Perthshire.
Exams issue won’t halt indy
Sir, – I read with interest Jenny Hjul’s article (Purely political penitence, Courier, August 12) .
On this occasion the issue is the “exam debacle” as she calls it.
With a rather long-winded reprise full of bias rather than facts, we finally get to the crux of the matter which is a feeble attempt to convince and “bring back on board”, distraught voters to the Tory fold.
To use the exam results and the actions of the Scottish Government to resolve what was a very difficult situation as a reason for changing your voting intentions smacks of desperation.
The latter part of her article is pure conjecture and a rather limp attempt to ignore the fact that all the polls and many pundits predict in 2021 an overwhelming victory for the SNP in the Holyrood elections, with 57% of the vote, Tories 20% of the vote and Labour 14% of the vote.
The desire for independence is supported by 54% of Scots.
Little is said about why this is the case.
In fact, it is well known, this is the result of Nicola Sturgeon and her government having the overwhelming support of the Scottish people in their handling of the Covid 19 pandemic and its consequences and not, as is suggested, “only in the eyes of her fan base”.
This is in sharp contrast to the UK Government’s handling of the epidemic.
Dan Wood.
Charles Melvin Gardens, Kirriemuir.
Biden playing identity politics
Sir, – Presidential candidate Joe Biden has made an appeal to identity politics.
Biden is a 50-year Washington insider.
He backed the wars in Afghanistan Iraq, Libya and Syria.
He wrote the Crime Bill that was the start of mass incarceration in the US.
He helped oversee the 2008-09 bailout of Wall Street.
Biden has indicated his presidency would see a return to “centrism” of the Obama years.
This means bailouts for Wall Street and never-ending foreign wars and no public health system in the US.
The result of Obama’s policies paved the way for the Republicans to take control of the House of Representatives in 2010, the Senate in 2014 and ultimately Trump in 2016.
How by doing exactly the same Biden will get different results is a mystery.
He has chosen Kamala Harris as his running mate.
Her acceptance of the position of vice-presidental candidate was filled with the usual platitudes about improving education, dismantling structural barriers and achieving “racial justice,” all without changing the capitalist system.
It is an unpalatable truth that this system is the main cause of violent police repression. Kamala Harris made her name as a prosecutor locking up mostly poor people.
Her donors included the Getty family and Trump himself.
Harris is a centrist whose record is unremarkable.
The perspective of those who advocate “identity politics” denies that racism is the way in which the bosses divide working people in order to keep their power.
This opposes a unified struggle of workers against capitalism, against class oppression.
Instead they favour more BAME people in corporate management.
The Democratic Party is using identity politics to pose as advocates for “justice” against a brutal capitalist state.
Alan Hinnrichs.
2 Gillespie Terrace,
Dundee.
Leaves will have come out too!
Sir, – What a heartwarming story about the rescue at Perth Airport of the hedgehog stuck in a drainpipe, where the SCAA is based (Helimed team saves hedgehog in a prickle, Courier, August 12).
As a bonus it probably got all the leaves out too!
Ian Brooks.
Halyburton Place,
Cupar.
