Election / Brae pupils quiz candidates on education, energy and phones at schools
THEY say the hustings at Brae High School is one of the toughest in the election campaign schedule.
This remarkable reputation was again confirmed on Thursday afternoon when five of the election hopefuls faced an audience of senior pupils from the school, many of whom will be first time voters.
A fascinating 90-minute exchange of views ensued, discussing in some depth many relevant issues from education to the future of energy, and from the use of mobile phone to social media and pupils’ behaviour.
Chaired by modern studies teacher Kris Johnson, a slightly different set up than in previous year ensured that the discussion flowed easily, while pupils had a much greater input.
Present were, in alphabetical order, Alex Armitage for the Greens, John Erskine for Scottish Labour, SNP candidate Hannah Mary Goodlad, Emma Macdonald for the Liberal Democrats, and Brian Nugent, representing the Alliance to Liberate Scotland.
Missing from the proceedings was Vic Currie for Reform UK who, despite many efforts to be contacted, remains elusive. Currie, it has emerged, has secured top spot on his party’s Highlands and Islands list which almost guarantees his election as a list MSP come May.
Also missing was Conservative candidate Douglas Barnet, a student at Aberdeen University, who is understood to be announced by his party today (Friday).
Unsurprisingly, education was a major topic during Thursday’s hustings, with the Greens’ proposals (hotly debated on the Shetland News Facebook pages here with more than 700 comments) coming under proper scrutiny.
Goodlad described a policy of fewer exams and a stronger focus on coursework as “not realistic”. As were, in her words, many of the other Greens’ policy proposals.
Erskine used the opportunity to hit out at the SNP government who had failed to get the basics right on education, including the attainment gap and the standing of Scottish education in the international context.
Macdonald said there needed to be a stronger focus on other education paths such as apprenticeships, while Nugent wanted to see Higher Stills be scrapped and replaced by proper assessments.
But it was the Greens who got by far the longest speaking time – and not just on this topic – with Armitage explaining that the party’s policy was not about banning exams but about finding a better and more accurate way of assessing students.
“It is important that we look at the evidence and what works well for young people, and the evidence shows that moving away from exams and more towards course work assessment work better for most pupils,” he said.
“I think this is a much more accurate way of assessing how able a student is.
“And looking at exams result is a very narrow way of measuring how good a pupil and good a school is. Being overly focussed on exams results ends up missing so much more about a young person, who they are, their skills and abilities.”
Goodlad meanwhile pointed out that homework was not compulsory at primary school level, and added: “When it comes to exams, we already have a bit of a portfolio system where pupils do exams, but their course work is also assessed, and I think that is the model that needs to go forward.
And, addressing pupils directly, she said: “Whoever is being elected it is important that we are engaging with you on this crucial issue.”
Moving on to future energy needs and the role the green energy transition plays in this, Nugent was a lone voice in calling for Rosebank and other oil fields in the North Sea to be developed. He also described “renewables as a con” and felt that new oil drilling in the North Sea would enhance the UK’s energy security.
Goodlad, who has 15 years of working for Norwegian energy company Equinor under her belt, advocated a fairer energy policy where society is no longer covering the cost while profits are being privatised, and advocated her idea of a Shetland Energy Act.
While the Scottish Parliament has very limited powers with regards to energy policy, the need to decouple the price of electricity from the price of gas was overwhelming in order to lower energy bills, she said.
Macdonald said a lot of work on trying to reduce energy bills had already been done and was ongoing and she, if elected, would continue with that work.
Armitage meanwhile called for two transitions in the energy set-up: firstly, a transition to renewables and secondly a transition from corporations to communities.
“I guarantee you that the vast majority of the people here will be facing crippling energy bills,” he said.
“We are seeing the energy companies making billions of pounds of profit for their rich shareholders, while ordinary people have to shell out hundreds of pounds every month, and that is just totally unfair.”
Erskine meanwhile promoted nuclear as one way forward.
Mobile phone use in schools and the influence of social media on young people was the final topics candidates were quizzed on.
Erskine said the UK Government was currently consulting on proposals around this and urged everyone in the room to be heard by contributing to that process.
Armitage was in agreement with Goodlad in “following the evidence” about the dangers and addictiveness of social media, particularly for young people.
However, the role of schools in preparing young people for adult life, was highlighted and simply banning mobile phones, access to social media and increasingly the role AI plays was perhaps too simplistic.
Armitage summarised: “It is important for young people in schools to learn how to be safe around these powerful technologies.
“Yes, absolutely, there need to be restrictions, but they have to be evidence based, and I am slightly worried that if we ban everything then that creates the possibility for people once they are adult to become vulnerable.
“If you had the opportunity at school to safely learn about these technologies so that they don’t harm you when you are older, then you can be much more prepared to deal with this onslaught.”
With the Scottish parliamentary election campaign set to dominate the headlines over the coming weeks, there will be at least three more hustings to allow people to directly challenge and engage with candidates.
These are on 8 April in the Lerwick Town Hall, hosted by the Shetland Fishermen’s Association and the Scottish Fishermen’s Federation, on 14 April at Mareel, hosted by BBC Radio Shetland, and on 26 April in the Islesburgh Community Centre, hosted by the Climate Café.
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