Academic selection to stay for another three years
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
By Kathryn Torney
Education Minister Caitriona Ruane has dramatically performed a U-turn on
selection and is set to allow grammars to continue selecting pupils based on
their academic ability for an extra three years.
Her new school transfer plan, which will be officially unveiled tomorrow,
will include provision for post-primary transfer tests.
Despite her repeated strong criticism of selection, Ms Ruane's confidential
paper, which has been seen by the Telegraph and is dated yesterday, suggests
that grammars should be allowed to select 50% of their pupils based on their
academic ability in 2010, 30% for their intake in September 2011 and 20% in
2012. In September 2013 she says that all admissions should be on the basis
of non-academic criteria.
Thirty grammar schools have already announced their intention to set their
own entrance tests after the 11-plus is scrapped later this year.
Ms Ruane said that academic admission would be based on a new test set by
local exam body CCEA. Her paper admits that her plan requires cross-party
Assembly support to become reality — however, it is highly likely that it
will be rejected by the DUP and Ulster Unionists.
UUP education spokesman Basil McCrea said: "If reports of the
Minister's proposal are true, I would welcome the idea that CCEA would set
the tests, as schools setting their own tests would be fraught with
difficulties.
"There is absolutely no agreement to phase out the use of academic
selection so I can only assume that her paper is a negotiating ploy."
DUP education spokesman Sammy Wilson said that "under no circumstances"
would his party agree to anything which saw academic selection being taken
off the statute books.
"Why would we do that when it was agreed at St Andrews that selection
would remain unless there was cross-party support to ban it?" he said.
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