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3rd May 2006

Education Excluded At Mackie Academy

At the Stonehaven Conservatives meeting this week, concerns were expressed about the state of education in Aberdeenshire.  The meeting listened to a member who is currently attending Mackie academy and how she and others are being denied a future due to poor management and ‘cash shortages’.

In February pupils of the 5th year were asked to choose the four subjects they wished to study for the sixth year.  However, towards the end of March students were asked which one of these subjects they could drop due to ‘timetabling difficulties’.  For the disgruntled students the matter only worsened as last week they were informed that they would only be allowed to a maximum of three subjects.

The resultant effect is that these students will only be taught 15 periods out of a possible 30 every week.  Only half the week!  The other half will be study leave where students are not required to be in school grounds.  This will lead to many students de-motivated for so few subjects and loitering about Stonehaven when parents would expect them to be in a safe educational environment.

The issue, for most, is their very future, their careers have been planned to take four subjects in the 6th year and will have based the 5th year choices on the expectation of studying four subjects in the sixth year.  The problem is compounded because many universities, especially for medicine, require four subjects to be taken in the sixth year.  Now leading up to the 5th year exam this month pupils are worried as to whether their chosen careers are still available to them.

According to another pupil who wishes to remain anonymous, Aberdeenshire Council had blamed a ‘student funding problem’ and ‘cash shortages’ for reducing the amount of teaching available to those in their final year.

The Conservatives hope Aberdeenshire Council can resolve this situation so that the students who wish to invest another year to vital education can be given the opportunities available to others.