Our schools need a fresh start after Gavin Williamson’s exams scandal – The Yorkshire Post says

They did not deserve years of hard work to be overshadowed by, first Covid-19, and then a Grade A political scandal over the allocation of final grades by algorithm.

Understandably, they’re unlikely to forgive – or forget – Gavin Williamson, the Education Secretary, for his mishandling of the debacle or the indifference of Boris Johnson after the PM’s half-hearted message yesterday.

Now the challenge is to ensure that every school is able to fully reopen early next month – a herculean task overshadowed by the exams scandal and fresh claims that Mr Williamson was warned about the flawed algorithm.

Yet, given the collective loss of confidence in Mr Williams as calls by The Yorkshire Post and others for him to quit, or be sacked, grow by the day, the start of the new academic year needs to coincide with the appointment of a dynamic – and competent – Secretary of State.

Even though it would require a sixth Education Secretary in a decade, and such a high turnover of Ministers is regrettable, the 2020-21 academic year is already going to be a challenging one.

As well as students having to catch up on their studies, a factor exacerbating the North-South attainment divide, schools, colleges and universities are having to make provision for social distancing. They also realise lessons and lectures have the potential to be disrupted by Covid-19 outbreaks. This requires an Education Secretary who can work consensually with the Government’s opponents, and collaboratively with LEAs, and school providers, so students never again suffer the level of disruption and botched marking of exams that they have faced. That person, however, is not Gavin Williamson.

How you can support The Yorkshire Post and our journalism – this letter from Editor James Mitchinson explains