Letters - Saturday December 5, 2020

The nature and severity of the pandemic has understandably led us to concentrate on its impact on health and the economy.

As a result another crucial area, namely education, has tended to be placed on the backburner.

Yet the effect of the virus on education at every level is of enormous importance for it affects not only students in the short-term but their futures. It is also very important for the country.

That is why what happens regarding next year’s GCSE and A-level examinations is very important for thousands of young people.

This summer’s exams were a fiasco. Exams could have been held. They were in the Second World War even during the height of the bombing. Replacing them by teacher assessment resulted, unsurprisingly, in grade inflation. Top grades at GCSE went up 26 per cent, the A grade at A-level increased by over 50 per cent! The whole examination currency was devalued.

Currently, the Government has announced there will be exams next summer, possibly delayed by three weeks to give more teaching time. The problem now is how to ensure students, particularly those who got a raw deal during the year, are compensated for the time lost in the classroom.

Possible modifications to next year’s exams include: exam boards notifying schools in advance of the subject topics to be covered, reducing the syllabi content, and marking more leniently. None of these is perfect, far from it, but given the circumstances immeasurably better than this year’s lottery.

Teacher’s unions are however opposed to exams being held despite them being the only unbiased and objective means of assessing achievement. Of course, they also reveal to a significant degree teacher ability and school ethos.

Exams must be held if we are to retain any credibility in GCSE and A-level grades. Already a number of schools and universities have reported problems emanating from students /undergraduates finding that their inflated GCSE and A-level grades are making coping with their new studies very difficult.

Dr Barry Clayton

Thornton Cleveleys

Tourism

Opportunity for resort to shine

It must be very frustrating for fellow business owners in Blackpool and throughout Lancashire being placed into Tier 3 on the run up to Christmas.

Blackpool Council have done a sterling job this year dealing with administrating national and local restriction support grants to a range of business without delay. Blackpool is in pretty much a unique position throughout Lancashire and it’s evident that the government funding allocated for support grants is spread too thin.

Blackpool Council are placed in an unenviable position dealing with this dilemma. In reality some kind of miracle is needed like in the religious parable of ‘Feeding the multitude’.

Blackpool’s local economy is made up out of a lot of small businesses. The hospitality, leisure and accommodation sector rely equally on local trades persons, manufacturing suppliers, transport workers and taxi drivers. The local economy is one big mechanical wheel which in order to turn requires lots of smaller wheels and cogs to tick over.

I originally left Blackpool in 1996, although London is my main residence, I have regularly commuted by train to Blackpool on business purposes for almost 10 years. Over the past decade I have seen a number of positives which have been achieved. Most notably the purchases and on-going restoration programmes of The Winter gardens and Blackpool Tower.

It is no secret that Blackpool was a victim of its own success during the 1970s and 80s.

Whilst other towns and cities were adapting to changing tourism markets, Blackpool was for a better word stuck in what some would reasonably describe as a comfortable and complacent time warp attracting a year-on-year ageing and declining (but faithful) visitor demographic. Until very recently many of Blackpool’s regular die-hard visitors were from the happy-go-lucky generation, characters like ‘Jack and Vera’ as portrayed in Coronation Street. The heydays of the packaged coach trips and guaranteed 20-week summer season trade has long gone. The Coronavirus pandemic has destroyed established tour companies such as Shearings and National holidays which proudly served Blackpool for decades.

Twenty years ago I witnessed the ambitious and positive regeneration plans which occurred in Brighton. I would like to see Blackpool become the Brighton of the north and widen its cultural offerings.

The next few years are crucial following the coronavirus pandemic.

With the uncertainty of Brexit and with a united sense of optimism to support the UK tourism economy, collectively this presents a good opportunity for Blackpool to shine brightly. Creating a greater year-round visitor economy, meeting the expectations of the modern visitor with both tourism and conference facilities .

Stephen Pierre

Galleon Bar, Blackpool

Transport

I won’t miss the Nodding Donkeys

British Rail’s Pacers were also well known as ‘Nodding Donkeys’ as they had single axles, and didn’t make the traditional diddle-da, diddle-da noise. As one who used steam trains to go to school, I won’t miss them!

David Walls

via email