While Labour accuses the Conservatives of breaking a promise, local Tory MP says future of Turkish exams is ‘cast iron’
Britain’s main political parties have clashed over the future of Turkish secondary school exams, which are being abolished in two years.
The Conservatives had said before the general election they would “guarantee” the future of GCSE and A level qualifications in the Turkish language if they were returned to power.
However Labour has accused the government of stepping back on its word because Nicky Morgan, the education secretary, has not offered a similar commitment since winning the election.
Joan Ryan, the Labour MP for Enfield North, said she had asked Mrs Morgan about the steps she would take to “end the uncertainty” but that these had not been addressed.
But the Conservative member for neighbouring Enfield Southgate, David Burrowes, insisted the promise to secure Turkish exams was being kept and said it was “time for politicians to stop playing party politics with modern languages”.
‘NO COMMITMENT’
Writing to the education secretary on 5 July, Ms Ryan told the education secretary she was very concerned by comments by ministers which suggested the Conservatives’ “cast-iron assurance may no longer apply”.
“I believe it is incumbent upon the Government to fulfil its pre-election promise. It is also imperative that the situation is clarified as soon as possible, in order to avoid any further ambiguity about the Government’s commitment to these important qualifications,” she wrote.
But in her reply Nicky Morgan said her department was working “to enable as wide a range of languages as possible to be maintained at GCSE and A level”. She did not guarantee the future of Turkish exams, as she previously had during the election campaign.
Joan Ryan said she was “very concerned” by the response: “I asked specific questions in my letter about what steps she intended to take to end the uncertainty over the future of Turkish language qualifications.
“These were not addressed and no commitment was forthcoming from Ms Morgan regarding fulfilling her pre-election promise.”
‘CAST-IRON’ PROMISE
But David Burrowes used a meeting with Turkish educationalists last week to insist the promise was “cast-iron”.
Speaking after speaking to Turkish Language, Culture and Education Consortium led by Kelami Dedezade, he said the schools minister Nick Gibb was keeping the promise.
“A consultation with relevant stakeholders has begun and it is a question not of ‘if’, but ‘how’ and ‘when’ Turkish exams are formulated for the new curriculum,” Mr Burrowes said.
“Ofqual and the exam board needs to provide the Turkish community with an agreed way forward as soon as possible.
“I will press Ministers to keep a close eye on progress to ensure everything is in place this year for roll out of the new curriculum with Turkish GCSEs and A levels in 2017/18.”
