Inga Sæland left school deputy head’s grading question unanswered

Education and Children’s Affairs Minister Inga Sæland did not answer a school deputy head’s repeated question about how a new grading system will ensure equal treatment of students, mbl.is reported. Margrét Lilja Pálsdóttir, assistant principal at Skarðshlíðarskóli, raised the issue at a public meeting this week.

The new grading scale in the national curriculum for compulsory schools means that 10th-grade students will receive final numerical grades instead of letter grades when they graduate this spring. Pálsdóttir said schools will decide how much weight to give different areas of competence, so similar performance could result in a grade of 6 at one school and 7 at another.

She said differences in the weighting of areas such as writing and reading comprehension could affect which courses students need to take in upper secondary school. According to Pálsdóttir, Sæland spoke about PISA results, reading comprehension and increased funding for learning materials, but did not explain how equal treatment would be ensured.

“When I asked again for an answer, the minister said firmly that this was not a conversation between two people and that she was speaking now. That was where the conversation ended, and my question was still unanswered,” Pálsdóttir wrote on Facebook.

Pálsdóttir told mbl.is that she believes it is too early to introduce the changes under the current arrangements and called for broader discussion. She said teachers and school leaders are not opposed to reform, adding that she supports numerical grades and believes the education system should be examined critically.

She also asked the ministry to publish the questionnaire and all results from a survey conducted among school implementation teams. Pálsdóttir said the survey covered more topics than the two questions included in the ministry’s announcement.