Concern over exams plan

Many parents will echo the views of teaching union representatives over plans to send GCSE exam papers abroad to be marked.

Examination board AQA is planning the move with 360,000 papers being digitally scanned, emailed 5,000 miles and then marked.

The destination is a data-inputting centre near Madras, India.

The board claims the plan will "boost the efficiency and accuracy" of marking in this country.

Teaching unions have a different view - condemning the scheme as "marking on the cheap".

That view could, of course, be easily dismissed as the view of a group with a vested interest, but one suspects that parents will not see it that way.

Exam marking in recent years has not been without its problems - and introducing another link to the chain seems an unlikely step forward.

AQA say there are significant checks and balances in place.

It also points out that the reason for the move is "not just financial" but part of "modernising" the examination process.

It points out that computer marking will also free up skilled examiners in this country to concentrate on other sections of the papers.

Outsourcing work abroad is, of course, also a hot political issue at the moment and there is a political dimension to this plan.

Workers in India are said to be paid a fifth of what British examiners earn and many will wonder at just how big a consideration the financial element of this plan is.

For the sake of the thousands of teenagers involved, we very much hope that the new scheme works smoothly and efficiently.

If not, AQA will have some very awkward questions to answer from a group of people who certainly have a vested interest. The parents.

If that were to happen one can see the "political dimension" taking on a whole new scale.

Click here to find out more on this story.

Fitting tribute to real heroes

It is surprising that it has taken 105 years for a memorial to be erected in memory of police officers who have died in the line of duty.

That is a very long time but now their names will live on with a £2m memorial in London.

Unveiled by the Queen yesterday, it will serve as a permanent tribute to those murdered on duty, killed during an arrest or who died while performing acts of gallantry.

It should also serve as a reminder to the rest of us that there are still a great many public servants who have jobs which sometimes require them to put their lives on the line.

The memorial - in The Mall, central London - has been erected following a 10-year campaign by film director Michael Winner, founder of the Police Memorial Association.

He is to be congratulated for his persistence.

The vast majority of us go to work each day and return home safe and sound.

It is therefore, easy to forget that some people have jobs which - by their very nature - often require them to be in risk situations.

Sometimes, that turns to tragedy.

The least we can do as a nation is remember them and commemorate their sacrifice.

To find out more on this story, click here.