Please Mr Johnson. Overturn this algorithm A-level disaster and help millions of children from ordinary backgrounds
By The Editor
This newspaper is all about good news. But it is also about turning bad news into good news.
Sadly this is one of those days.
There is very little good about how this year’s A-level results have been handled by the powers that be.
It seems that for whatever reason, that the children and students have been forgotten. Instead, a complex and grossly unfair computer algorithm has decided the fate of too many.
Particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds or schools that were previously struggling before being taken over.
And all this, on the back of COVID-19, the dreadful uncertainty and the expanding mental health crisis in young people over the last 10 years.
They have been worst hit by the controversial standardisation process used to award A-level grades in England this year.
At the same time, it seems that students at private schools benefited the most. Is this fair?
One year ago this month, some of our GNP reporters interviewed Boris Johnson inside Downing Street. It was his first interview with any journalists of any age inside the historic London home. It sent out a big message – we want to put children at the top of the agenda.
Our reporters sat round the famous cabinet table, (pictured) where Winston Churchill and dozens of others have led the United Kingdom. One day, those same children as adults and their generation will be leading the country.
Today we urge him to intervene. To change the system with immediate effect. We plead with him on behalf of children from ordinary backgrounds, not to do the same situation for GCSEs next week.
Private schools already get huge social advantages, because of a wide variety of reasons. They also benefit from smaller class sizes.
Mr Johnson‘s legacy could be as a man of the people, who helped the lives of millions and those from all backgrounds. this month and next week with the GCSEs it is his opportunity to make a big stand for young people everywhere.
