Statement by TUV leader Jim Allister:
“While I am dismayed by the news that pupils in Northern Ireland will no longer be able to avail of GCSEs offered by examination boards in Great Britain, this is the disruptive outcome which the minister was warned about when he announced his foolish failure to follow GB GCSE changes on 17 November 2015. If he expected the GB Boards to specially mark NI students on an alphabetical basis, while switching to numerical grading in GB, then he was at best naive. I don’t think, however, he expected and hoped for any different outcome than has occurred, as cutting as many ties as he can with GB practice is part of his overriding malevolent political agenda.
On 17 November 2015 I commented in the Assembly as follows:-
“Mr Allister: On a day when the Minister and his party roll over and ask Westminster to legislate on welfare reform, is this not an irrational and political decision to bolster the Minister’s anti-England credentials, wreaking havoc with the portability of qualifications and creating a conundrum for students, parents, employers and universities? Indeed, it is a conundrum that might well fit a transfer test question: if John gets a B in Belfast, what would it be in Bristol?”
Sadly, once more Sinn Fein – whose decision the DUP could have called in, but didn’t – has brought chaos to education. It does not make sense for students or teachers. Schools now have a much reduced choice. Not only that, but courses which have been taught for years and the resources purchased to teach them have been rendered obsolete.
“We now have a situation in Northern Ireland where the regulator (CCEA) is also the sole provider of examinations. This is a clear conflict of interest.
“On top of all that, young people who move to other parts of the U.K. for employment or further eduction will face problems explaining what their qualifications actually mean. The portability of their GCSE qualifications have been destroyed by the minister’s politicking.”