Gavin Williamson will never make the grade unlike our A-level and GCSE students – Jayne Dowle

You know that. I know that – my own teenagers, who have been stuck with me since March, certainly know it too – but does Gavin Williamson? I ask because, hitherto this summer, the hapless Education Secretary seems incapable to prepare for anything, even that TV photo-call where he left a whip in full view.

Meetings can be held, emails marked ‘urgent’ sent, but he’s like the boy at the back of the class swinging on his chair, looking out of the window watching a game of cricket on the sports field when he should be paying attention to the test on the desk.

I take no pleasure in pointing out his further abject failures. I’m a very concerned parent with an anxious Year 10 daughter, who is about to embark upon the most important two years of her life. We both want to know that her efforts will not be in vain.

Lizzie is due to start her GCSEs when she returns to the classroom on September 10. Her academy secondary school has taken great trouble to arrange a staggered start for all year groups. I can’t help but worry that these carefully-devised, socially-distanced plans are about to be thrown up in the air at any moment.

For today, about 700,000 pupils expect the results of their own GCSE results. Many of these five million exams may end up being eligible for an appeal. This is going to impact immediately on their teachers and school management teams, potentially disrupting the long-anticipated return to school.

Unless there is a very clear steer from the top and a joint sense of purpose, we’re at risk of widespread disruption from now onwards and throughout the autumn term. And unless resources, including emergency Government funding for staff cover, are made freely available, we’re looking at all the ingredients for chaos.

This is absolutely no time for the Education Secretary to pick another fight with the teaching unions.

The effect of this unprecedented year on our youngsters has already been devastating. Make no mistake, they have suffered during this pandemic, particularly in hidden ways. Hit with a ‘triple whammy’ of trauma – curtailed education, fears for their prospects and isolation from their friends and peers – they are rudderless and fearful of the future.

Now they see A-level and GCSE students at the mercy of a faceless algorithm. All that studying and learning, hope and aspiration, wiped out on the whim of an unaccountable computer chip. Please don’t call this generation snowflakes or start muttering about bringing back National Service. It’s really not helpful and further widens the chasm of misunderstanding between the generations.

Young Minds, a charity which campaigns for wider recognition of mental health challenges affecting young people, is calling for a transition period of at least one academic term for schools, colleges and universities in which allowances are made for the effects of pandemic-induced trauma or emotional distress.

This would mean reviewing behaviour policies, attendance policies and accountability measures, including suspending fines related to attendance.

It sounds sensible to me, but what are the chances of that happening? If we were to judge the Government’s own record on children and young people, it would definitely be a U for unclassified.

Education experts have already warned that disadvantaged children will have fallen even further behind their middle-class peers. Do you remember when it took an England footballer, Marcus Rashford, to persuade the Prime Minister to keep free school meals vouchers to help feed the poorest of children during the summer holidays?

This hardly bodes well, does it? I’m not sure when the Education Secretary last set foot in an actual school, but he really should get to grips with the reality. Education, for the vast majority of families in the UK, cannot be contracted out and paid for with a hefty school fees cheque every term.

Without schools, the next generation can’t learn and thrive. And parents, let’s not forget, cannot go back to work with the peace of mind that their children are safe and being cared for in a supportive environment.

Today it’s all about the GCSE results, but education means much more to individuals, communities and the country. Has Mr Williamson done his homework? If not, he had better start cramming now.

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