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Watch: UK PM Boris Johnson quizzed over summer exams fiasco

یکشنبه, 16 آذر,1399 11:20 ق.ظ

Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson speaks during a Cabinet meeting of senior government ministers.

Boris Johnson was pressed on his government's efforts to safely return people back to work and school after the coronavirus lockdown, in the first Prime Minister's Questions since the summer break.

It comes as British children return to the classroom following the lockdown measures aimed at curbing the spread of COVID-19.

Johnson was criticised over the government's decision to scrap exams and use an algorithm to calculate results, which resulted in 40% of grades being lower. The government later made a U-turn and used teacher assessments to grade students.

Responding to criticism from the opposition, Johnson refused to say when he found out that there was a problem with the algorithm.

"Doing the decent thing and this prime minister don’t go together,” Labour opposition leader Keir Starmer said, saying the summer was wasted.

Starmer said the policy changes were "mess after mess" and "U-turn after U-turn".

Johnson defended his record, stating that the UK had invested in vaccines and treatments for COVID-19 and that UK children were going back to school.

Starmer said going back to school was safe but said Johnson's education secretary was "incompetent".

It came after the head of Ofqual said in the written statement on Wednesday that the Department of Education was aware of the potential "risks" and "impact" of using teacher assessments.