´óÏó´«Ã½

I wanted to jump the gun so to speak and this was the only place I could find to put down my rant, so I apologise if it looks out of place
So why the rant? Because I can almost hear the clamour!
The exams are too easy! This is dumbing down at its worst! Employers will be complaining that kids are coming out of fifth and six form unable to read or write properly and university chancellors will state that their staff have to spend weeks bringing the ‘thicky’ kids up to standard. We need to go back to the 'old' days and so the worn out record goes on!
Well I’m actually from the ‘old’ days. I did my degree back in the late 70’s early 80’s and I’ve supplemented my BSc (Hons) with a few more letters, I’m what people might call a well educated bod (apart from my English before anyone brings that up)
So before the shout for change begins. Before we start to belittle the achievements of this year’s crop of Standard, Intermediate, Higher and A Higher students, I just wanted to take this opportunity to point out a few home truths.
It’s easy to knock people’s achievements but harder to praise. So well done to every teenager who has just taken one of the above mentioned exams, whatever the subject or result.
I’ve now had two of my kids go through Highers and I can tell you this for a fact. There weren’t many times, when I was helping them with homework or revision, when I sat back thinking this was a piece of cake. The English was quite frankly beyond me, the maths made me run for cover and the advance maths was every bit a challenge for a first year undergrad. And the story was the same for every subject they took.
Forget the politics and the point scoring. Stop trying to find fault and accept that things can and do get better. Recognise that teenagers today do put in a lot of hard work and believe someone who has been there, done it, got the tee shirt, etc. etc. These exams are just as hard as they were in my day and you should be ashamed of yourself if you think differently.