A change of minister for education in Scotland is hardly newsworthy. The postholder has little to do other than utter platitudes and pose for photographs.
Meanwhile, Scottish education continues to be run by an unacccountable coterie from Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Education, the Scottish Executive Education Department and the Scottish Qualifications Authority.
The new minister could prove me wrong by getting the Scottish Qualifications Authority to justify the time-wasting sham that is internal assessment in Standard grade chemistry. My enquiry received a smug intransigent reply reminiscent of the complacency before the 2000 exams debacle.
John Samson
Blinkbonny Gardens, Edinburgh
