Exam boards discuss Ramadan 2016 and exam dates

[DeoGratias]

For those who believe in invented Gods apparently the exam boards may make some changes. I think the having key exams first in the mornings is the best proposal. One of my children last year who did pretty well in GCSEs often doesn't have any breakfast so he has an kind of Radaman fast anyway from 10pm to lunch or even after school sometimes. I think we can work around this.
It is not for 30 years that Ramadan has fallen so fully within the GCSE and A level period and then we had many fewer people prepared to believe in such things.

Question for any secondary school teachers: I understand the 2016 exam timetables have already been published. If you had looked at the timetable without the "Exams changed to fit in with Ramadan" story being all over the news, would it immediately have struck you that the timetable looked significantly different to previous years? Or would it have looked so similar that you would have put any changes down to there always being a bit of variation from year to year?

if the whole thing fits into an already set timetable then it's the media making up crap?

the version I heard was about scheduling earlier than usual and trying to have more morning slots than afternoon slots, that was on the morning news locally, just in brief.

I would have noticed the difference with maths. The papers are normally a few days apart after half term, now they are split across it. They haven't moved both, I wonder if that's because some schools get kids in to revise over half term and they'd be pissed off if they completely lost that time.

If I didn't let my teenagers drink or eat during the day and I wasn't muslim would that be lawful? I wonder what the age of "choice" is for child neglect issues in England.

I certanily had a debate about intermittent fasting advantages with the school nurse who called about them because they were sometimes choosing not to eat school lunch. One son is the only white boy in his class.

Surely 'God' will see that students observing Ramadan are at a disadvantage and then help them accordingly?

That line saddens me so much "One son is the only white boy in his class." Really? He is a boy in a class of boys and girls, actually he is a child in a class of children. I am so cross about your sentence I can't even type a decent reply right now.

When we live in a multi cultural society and parts of the UK are far more so than others it makes no sense only one child is white, in many parts of the country would make no sense the other way round but oddly this happens. I know both white and non white people who have pulled their children out of schools for being not being culturally mixed enough in culturally diverse areas of the country

MrS, it it were an issue for me he wouldn't be at the school but I did find it amusing that I was picked up on his not eating when so many boys who are Muslim wouldn't be eating because of fasting and that of course is absolutely fine - if an invented God tells you to not to eat or drink and damage your health - (it is the lack of water which troubles me about Ramadan) then that great particularly in an educational institution which should be telling you the truth about science etc) but if it's a personal choice not to eat based on scientific research then it's not okay. Weird.

As for his being the only white boy they are all boys whatever their colour and as different as any class of white boys might be. The main interesting impacts are that there is a lot of anti gay and anti trans gender views and the views on women amongst many are absolutely horrific. Let us just say feminism is not exactly flavour of them onth. It is at times as if I have chosen to pluck him from London and have him educated in rural Pakistan.

I think there are so many things that affect exams it's impossible to make allowances for them all. When I did my O'levels I had awful hay fever, was on my period and in the throes of a messy split from my boyfriend. No special treatment given obviously, I wanted to be treated like the almost adult I was and just had to get on with it. It's stood me in good stead since too. Some things just have to be done regardless of how I feel at the time and that's life.

Yes sure, but religious belief is a protected characteristic in equalities law. Hayfever and boyfriend troubles are not. Also it's easy to predict when Ramadan will be, not so easy to predict when teenagers will break up

Though I agree with pp that it was probably done because the schools wanted to ensure that they got the best results possible.

You can apply for special consideration for hay fever on the day of an exam.

Those on here who highlight the fact that our holidays fall mainly around Christian (and previously Pagan) celebrations. Would you want this to be changed?

If national holidays are changed

I can't see that happening though

Those on here who highlight the fact that our holidays fall mainly around Christian (and previously Pagan) celebrations. Would you want this to be changed?

No. but an acknowledgement that muslims are not alone in asking for concessions for their religious holidays would be a start.

I wasn't thinking of changing the public holidays in the UK. I was just pointing out that Christians have an advantage.

We have the same thing at work. If Eid or Yom Kippur falls on a work day and you are an observant Muslim or Jew, you probably have to take a day's annual leave. Christians do not have to take annual leave to observe their religious festivals, because they are all bank holidays. So Christians effectively have more choice about how they use their annual leave.

Has anyone said this. I am not sure Hindu holidays or even some Jewish holidays have been taken into account when decisions like this are made even if they do impact fewer people. UK holidays are based around our national holidays that are mainly around the Christian calendar

And have Muslims asked for this ? That's the thing we have a small minority of Muslims that place pressure on changes to be made/considerations to be made towards the Islamic faith and they are less liberal in their way of thinking and we have assumptions made by non Muslims that this is what Muslims are wanting/need/require

Muslims I know don't but they do not speak for all

Islam is a faith that accommodates for many the way they choose the practise it is not

The umbrella group of exam boards, the Joint Council for Qualifications has issued a statement clarifying their procedures as a result of all this kerfuffle.

JCQ Statement - Exam Timetables

"There has been a clear misunderstanding in some parts of the media as to how the GCSE and A level timetable is set and the impact religious events, such as Ramadan, Easter and Passover, have on it. It is important to note that the timetable for 2016 was drafted over a year ago, is published, and won’t be changing.

Each year the timetable is reviewed to ensure it meets the current needs of students, schools and colleges. This review includes a consultation and considers comments from a wide range of stakeholders including schools, colleges and religious groups. However, each year there are only minimal changes.

In such a large, complex system where there is a large number of candidates taking examinations and a diverse range of subjects available, it is not always possible to meet each and every request. Exam boards will always aim to be as fair as possible to all. If a small change can be made for any one group that does not impact negatively on most students, it will, quite rightly, be considered – but these are made before the timetable is published."

Thanks for that aginghippy. The media, never known to let the facts stand in the way of a good bit of outrage!

This was reported in the press last year Independent last year and reported again yesterday

the point is why is it being considered ? why are we considering a religious observing that can be adjusted - it just simply should not be considered

Passover and Easter fall around the same time and Easter holidays are also national holidays so exams would not fall then anyway so irrelevant

but of course some will run with it as an anti Islam regardless of that should we not be aware of this

the sooner religion and education are totally separate the better

I'm not religious but was brought up Hindu. The difference between Hindu parents and other ones is that they won't let you skip school for anything. I had to go when I was sick/fasting/had severe period pain/all of it - there was never a good excuse to miss school & this applied to Hindu class mates too. I even missed funerals and weddings to go.

It showed in the results though - there were 10 Hindu students in my year, 1 black /christian, 5 white/christians, the rest all Muslim. Come GCSE time the top ten GCSE results all came from the Hindu students.

Easter holidays are also national holidays so exams would not fall then anyway so irrelevant

I can't even.

Why do you think Easter coincides with the holidays?

Actually fwiw Easter doesn't coincide with the holidays in my LA: we have spring break in early April regardless. Exams haven't been that early anyway.

well it makes sense to have a school holiday around two bank holidays or you would have two short weeks then what a few weeks later more time off

yes as i have said before national holidays are set around the Christian calendar we are a Christian country. Even if we become a secular country we are still likely to have these holidays to fall in line with most of the western world. I am all for having religion and education totally separated and having no faith schools - see the problems that will arise then from all faiths but school holidays will still be around national holidays.

yes exams are not that early so taking into account Passover/Easter is irrelevant and it it is for Ramadan for most of the time

the point is why is it being considered ? why are we considering a religious observing that can be adjusted - it just simply should not be considered

If students fast, then it will adversely affect their exam results. Schools cannot tell students not to fast. Schools which have a high proportion of Muslim students will potentially see their results plummet, triggering Ofsted interventions (I've heard that some schools have been concerned about this before this news came out). English and Maths need to be resat in sixth form if failed. Schools with a high proportion of Muslim students could be overwhelmed by the numbers needing to resit (numbers are already a problem here, and schools don't need any more resit students).
Apart from that, how would grade boundaries be set if a significant (not sure how many) proportion of students underachieve? Grade boundaries are currently lowered if students do worse than expected because the paper is seen to be harder.

You can't just say 'screw that student who chose to fast, they deserve to fail'. There's a much bigger picture to be considered, and it is in the interests of both schools and exam boards to try and ameliorate the issues which will be raised by fasting students.

I have not implied screw the students who choose to fast they deserve to fail I do not think that at all

My issue is that religious practices should not be given consideration in education

it is a choice to fast or not for children and a requirement once they have reached puberty (for some that might be strictly speaking 15 or over). I understand that some children are from backgrounds where their families would put more pressure on them to fast I have known children as young as 10 to fast (forget religious leaders giving out advice as few are progressive in this country, if they were they would encourage following timezones for Ramadan in ME countries as they do in Scandinavia, but they don't) I do not think we should pander to those who are less progressive in their beliefs as some muslims will encourage their children to fast at a later date

They don't have to be disadvantaged I actually don't think schools should be allowing any child to actively go without food or water for any reason they have a duty or care my son had 3 girls need hospital 2 years ago during the sports day because of this

Yet again let's pander to the Muslims they are not even 5% of the population