Lanarkshire based MSP Monica Lennon has slammed the SNP's record on education as today's exam results reveal the attainment gap growing on last year.
The Scottish Labour politician is fighting the corner of school pupils in Lanarkshire who "deserve better" than the current system which has caused disruption over the course of the pandemic.
Figures from this year’s SQA results show that the difference between the proportion of pupils from the wealthiest and poorest areas getting A grades at Higher has increased to 22.1 percentage points (pp), its highest point since before 2017.
The gap in the Higher pass rate also increased on last year, from 6.5pp to 7.9pp, while the difference in the National 5 pass rate between the best off and the worst off increased from 7.9pp last year to 9.0pp.
Ms Lennon told Lanarkshire Live : “When speaking to young people and teachers from schools in Lanarkshire, I’ve been struck by their resilience in the face of seemingly endless obstacles.
"From the late cancellation of exams, to the shambolic roll out of the Alternative Certification Model and the appeals system which took none of this year’s extraordinary circumstances into account.
“School pupils in Lanarkshire deserve better than a system which has widened the attainment gap, meaning that poorest pupils have been impacted the worst by SQA and Scottish Government mismanagement."
The Central Scotland MSP is now seeking further support to pupils affected by changes made to education and exam over the past year and a half.
Such support would include a guaranteed chance of re-sitting exams as well as an offer for a further education place for students wishing to take their subjects again.
Ms Lennon added: "I applaud teachers for their dedication to the wellbeing of their pupils while faced with these numerous fixable issues.
“Scottish Labour call on SNP ministers to implement a ‘re-sit guarantee’ without delay and offer a further education place to any young person impacted by the disruption of the pandemic who wishes to re-take their subjects.”
