I have never been more disappointed in someone than I am in David Cameron right now. I am also exasperated, frustrated and a tad annoyed. Read until the end .. I promise you .. it’s worth it!
This has now become so, so, soooooo much more than the accreditation process and do you know what? This situation is the making of the current government. They made this bed and I don’t want to lie in it!
My chasing for answers has never been political but … hang on … before I go on I should say that I’ve always seen myself as sort of apolitical, in that I don’t consider that I know enough about each party’s policies to call myself a political “expert” (I suppose I’m your “average” voter) … I use my vote because I feel obliged to but I also believe in democracy. I believe that we have the right to voice an opinion. I also believe that you have the right to disagree with me. It is possible to have a disagreement and discussion without actually falling out with people.
So let’s sum up what “my beef” WAS:
Since last year I have been blogging about the accreditation process. Why? I am very passionate about the impact and credibility of the accreditation process (with Ofqual having now admitted that the standards in the GCSEs that they have already accredited are not suitable) for the new Mathematics GCSE. I just want clarity and fairness – I genuinely want all the exam boards to have a “fair crack” at the whip. In fact we haven’t yet made a decision who we’ll be using and don’t expect to do so for some time … its way too early to make such a big decision. As you will be aware the awarding bodies have been told to go away and do some work on their sample assessment materials – so here we are with only 5 weeks left of this year and still no further forward than we were 12 months ago when the draft specifications were published.
That isn’t the issue though …. Going back to November Nick Gibb wrote to Ofqual (I had to get the below letter through a Freedom of Information Request) asking for reassurances. On TWO occasions I have written to Mr Gibb asking him if he would now confirm that he is received those reassurances and twice I feel, I have been “fobbed” off and referred to Ofqual. The fact is, Mr Gibb (a public official) made a statement and I feel it is only right and proper that he allays our fears about the time needed to prepare for this new GCSE.
THAT WAS MY ISSUE – ALL I WANT IS FOR NICK GIBB TO CONFIRM THAT THE GOVERNMENT HAS HAD THE REASSURANCES THEY ASKED FOR. The fact remains, Mr Gibb asked for reassurances in his letter and now needs to stand by Ofqual, or not, as the case may be. We are running out of time and as they would say in the movies “the moon is looking extremely big in the window!”
I was fobbed off twice by Mr Gibb’s office and referred to Ofqual. It is not a matter for Ofqual – Nick made the comments and it is for him to answer. Having had no joy with his office a couple of weeks ago I wrote to David Cameron – here’s my letter ->Letter to PM (with a copy to Nicky Morgan, Nick Gibb and Glenys Stacey). To be fair to Ofqual, Glenys’ PA responded on the day of receipt to say that the contents had been noted and from our PM’s office they’ve only gone and flipping referred me back to the DFE. This has a number of massive repercussions:
- It suggests that his office didn’t even read my letter – if they had they would know that I had no joy with the DFE.
- It makes me wonder if this is how they (I mean “our” government … yes! Yours and mine!) deal with people with “gripes”. If you keep bouncing them around long enough will they just go away and get on with it. I suspect that is the strategy that they are using here. But that won’t work with this gal!!
- THE BIGGIE FOR ME NOW is that I’m now wondering to whom our government departments are accountable. If the PM isn’t holding them accountable then who is? BUT (and here’s the money shot!) to whom is David Cameron accountable … If I as a taxpayer and voter can’t get a decent response (I’m not saying I’d agree with the response but at least there would be some accountability!) what hope do we have? Maybe it’s the world we live in where our politicians are only held accountable through the media and “media worthy” events such as the think-tank thing that Nick Gibb attended this week.
So, where do you go when you get no answers from the Prime Minister? The queen? God? … personally I think it’s the media. They have more power than either of those in raising awareness and that is part of the issue with this scenario. Unless you understand the complexities it’s really difficult to understand and most reporters are happier to use press releases and publications from which they can “cut and paste” their copy.
So what next?
- I am replying to his office.
- I have written to my MP (also a Tory!) twice and will do so again! I urge you to do the same! All you need to do is email them a link to this blog post (don’t know who your MP is? look HERE ) – asking them to call for a response from Nick Gibb.
- In fact I am going all “shawshank redemption” and am going to write to the PM and my MP every week until I get answers.
- I am also working on the media thing too
- A petition is also on my “to-do” list … but I’m hoping it won’t come to that … I WILL NOT LET THIS LIE! This is now about holding our government accountable. We are at least owed that much aren’t we?
If all else fails … Will “The Queen, Buckingham Palace, London” suffice as an address for her maj …oh and I know it’s a long shot but does anyone have an address for God??
