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Has anything been more damaging to Nicola Sturgeon’s reputation in her time as FM than this exam results fiasco? There are other criticisms, but this one is really cutting through. It undermines a perception she’s worked hard to build as a champion for both children & fairness.
There are other criticisms of Sturgeon’s government but so few have ever really stuck with the public. It seems ‘letting out children down’ & ‘one rule for the rich, another for the poor’ are red lines for Scots that the SNP have just crossed, and then defended.
Nicola Sturgeon knows this. When becoming FM, said “judge me on education.” She aligned herself with Care Experienced children - the most disadvantaged young people in our society. ‘A fairer Scotland’ is the foundation of her case for independence. https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.scotsman.com/news/politics/nicola-sturgeon-judge-me-education-record-1497298%3famp
Well, what was the point in her being seen reading those books to deprived kids if they all now know she stood by and watched when they were downgraded in their exams because they’re deprived? They all saw her defend it too on the basis it makes the results more credible for her.
Yes, the injustice might be rectified in appeals, but what’s the point in putting teenagers through all the stress if you’re going to give them what they earned after all, with the same outcome Sturgeon deemed ‘not credible’ in the first place?
It was a difficult situation for Scotland’s First Minister to oversee exam results without exams for the first time. But Scotland’s public, including the next generation of voters, have graded her treatment of our deprived children. She might find them even harsher than the SQA.
