Opposition politicians from across South Lanarkshire have been vocal in their criticism of the SNP this week in the wake of the exam results cock-up.
South Lanarkshire Labour Group leader, Joe Fagan, said young people had been treated “cruelly” and had been “unfairly denied success” because of the processes in place by the Scottish government.
The East Kilbride councillor said there was a clear bias in the the exam moderation system that left young people from the most deprived areas “having their grades written down at twice the level of more affluent students”.
He added: “The lockdown generation have been failed through a lack of accountability and an absence of political and moral leadership.
“The SQA were warned they had to get the system right, but they didn’t. The SNP said education was their number one priority, yet clearly it’s not.
“The least well-off are paying the price for the mistakes of others and the credibility of Scottish education has taken a body blow.”
He called for South Lanarkshire Council to stand by the area’s young people to help with appeals.
On her social media accounts, Monica Lennon called the situation a “fiasco” that could have been prevented, blaming the government of not listening.
The MSP said John Swinney “should have listened to teachers, young people and the MSPs speaking up on their behalf”.
Ms Lennon wrote on Facebook: “Thousands of young people have had their achievements erased by the SQA fiasco.
“Under the SNP the poorest pupils have lost out again.”
Meanwhile the Conservatives education spokesman for South Lanarkshire, Councillor Ian Harrow, said the matter marked “a new low” in the SNP’s stewardship of education.
He accused the government and SQA of viewing teachers’ judgement as “not good enough” in the moderation process.
Councillor Harrow added: “They have potentially wrecked career prospects.
“The fact that a school’s past performance was taken into account is the worst part of this whole shambles. We encourage our pupils to try harder, yet they are penalised by the performance of those who have gone before.
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“What does that teach a student who wants to break out of the poverty they may be in? How does that encourage pupils to try harder.”
South Lanarkshire Liberal Democrat group leader, Robert Brown, asked for the matter to be discussed at the council’s next executive committee.
Councillor Brown said South Lanarkshire’s pupils “deserve the full support of their council”.
