The Languages Baccalaureate and Paternal Pride

We’re accustomed to complaining when “the powers that be” get things wrong – and properly so, particularly where our own children’s futures are concerned. It only seems fair then, to give credit where it’s due when they get them right. So please take a bow, Sgoil Lìonacleit, Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, the Scottish Qualifications Authority and all other agencies and individuals who have played their part in this particular success story. (Loud applause.)

Take a look at this clip from Scottish CILT:

Morag Wells, who should also take a bow, (more loud applause, cheers to the rafters, hats in the air etc) would no doubt be more than happy if I stayed silent on this matter – but paternal pride trumps that this time. (There won’t be many more occasions for me to exercise such “authority”…) Her distinctive “interdisciplinary project” that defines the Scottish Languages Baccalaureate as more than just a bundle of off-the-shelf Highers and Advanced Highers really did offer something different, outward-looking and integrative to occupy herself with in S6. That will no doubt stand her in very good stead when she moves on to university.

PS. Just one nagging question. (And no, it’s got nothing to do with whether or not she’s passed, which we still don’t know. Her previous successes in S5 have already guaranteed her a place, so in one very concrete sense it “doesn’t matter”, strange to relate.) But if Scottish schools can successfully offer this level of challenge at the senior end, then why do the universities persist in wanting students to spend at least four more years getting their first degree?

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