Education crisis point: SF and DUP at loggerheads over school selection plans

Friday, May 16, 2008

By Kathryn Torney

A furious row broke out between Ian Paisley and the Education Minister yesterday following a ministerial meeting at Stormont Castle to discuss a replacement for the 11-plus exam.

In a major split between the two largest political parties, Sinn Fein has insisted that Caitriona Ruane will plough ahead with her controversial proposal to phase out academic selection over three years — despite not having the support of her ministerial colleagues.

First Minister Ian Paisley strongly criticised the move and said it was a sad day for Northern Ireland. UUP education spokesman Basil McCrea said that if the crisis is not resolved it could lead to the downfall of the Assembly and Executive.

"The Education Minister can make any suggestion she wants to — however it will not come into force unless she has the support of the DUP and the endorsement of the Executive," Mr Paisley warned.

However, the Belfast Telegraph revealed last month that a leaked Sinn Fein paper outlined the possibility of new admissions criteria being issued to schools in the form of 'guidance'. Any grammar school which ignores the guidelines and continues to select pupils based on their academic ability would have to finance their own entrance tests and any appeals which result from this.

The Executive failed to agree on a way forward during a heated three-hour meeting of the Executive at Stormont Castle yesterday afternoon.

The UUP and DUP have already confirmed that they will not support the Minister's proposal to allow grammar schools to select 50% of their pupils based on their academic ability in 2010, 30% for the intake in 2011 and 20% in 2012. In 2013, Ms Ruane has proposed that all admissions would be based on non-academic criteria.

The Governing Bodies Association, which represents the province's 52 voluntary grammar schools, confirmed today that it rejected the same proposals from the Minister in February.

"We rejected them then because they offer nothing more than a transitional process leading to a universal comprehensive system within three years," a spokesman said.

In an interview with the Telegraph, the Minister said she will press ahead with her plans and confirmed that she will bring legislation to be voted on in the Assembly.

"I am going to look for agreement from the Assembly but I am determined to bring academic selection to an end," she said.

"I am the Minister for Education and I will bring about the change that is needed.

"There are parties that are trying to frustrate change and that is disappointing but I hope that they will see sense."

The Minister said that her proposal for a series of dedicated Executive meetings to discuss her plan was rejected by both unionist parties " aided and abetted by the SDLP".

However, Sinn Fein also rejected a proposal of a future meeting to discuss proposals from all of the parties — after an adjournment of at least an hour for a Sinn Fein discussion.

The Minister refused to comment on whether she would issue non-academic criteria in the form of guidance to schools if political consensus was not reached.

"Let's not pre-empt the vote in the Assembly," she said.

She also confirmed that her new academic exam — which will run for just three years — will test pupils' literacy and numeracy, last less than an hour and will not require practice papers.

A spokesman for Sinn Fein said that the Minister's proposals represent " a reasonable and realistic way forward."

DUP leader Ian Paisley spoke to reporters at Stormont Castle and said: " The DUP position is that academic selection must remain as part of the transfer procedure. Schools must have the right to select pupils on the basis of their academic ability.

"The Minister for Education's proposals, as currently framed, are totally unacceptable and do not form a basis for moving forward.

"As a result of the St Andrews negotiations we secured a legislative guarantee that academic selection can and will remain. The default position is clear — schools will be able to select on the basis of ability. We will not accept less.

"The Education Minister can make any suggestion she wants to — however it will not come into force unless she has the support of the DUP and the endorsement of the Executive.

"This is now a matter for the Executive to deliberate and decide upon. We supported a proposal for a sub-committee of the Executive to deal with this. This was rejected by Sinn Fein. We supported a proposal by Margaret Ritchie that the Executive as a whole should discuss the issue of post-primary education. This was rejected by Sinn Fein. This is an entirely unacceptable position by Sinn Fein."

Mr McCrea said: "Some people might think that this is a clever negotiating ploy by Caitriona Ruane. This would be a mistake.

"The Minister is absolutely serious about driving through these proposals. No compromise is possible and no consensus will be reached.

"This is a constitutional crisis and if it is not resolved it will lead to the downfall of the Assembly and the Executive."

DUP education spokesman Sammy Wilson said: "If the Minister cannot bring forward proposals which reflect the law as it stands — that academic selection should be available to those schools who want to use it — then there will be no agreement.

"We will make sure that she cannot move towards a ban on academic selection and comprehensive schooling."

Did the minister get it right this time?

Yes, says Sinn Fein Education spokesman John O'Dowd

THE Minister has published her proposals and as the dust settles parents, educationalists and interested parties now have a chance to study them.

The proposals are crystal clear. They are not set out in civil service jargon and will allow for a managed stable transition into a new education era which will promote academic excellence and vocational education for the benefit of all children.

Pupils will sit the last ever 11-plus this year. In 2010 children will transfer from primary school at 11. There will be a transitional three-year period allowing a limited academic selection process. This will allow a small number of schools (bilateral schools) who require this transitional phase to select decreasing numbers on the basis of a new test. The new test will be set by the Council of Curriculum, Examination and Assessment (CCEA). It will focus on literacy and numeracy and reflect what children are already being taught.

It will not distort or impact on the teaching of the revised curriculum in primary schools. Children sitting this exam will only sit it once and it will be in a venue agreed by the department and the bilateral schools.

The non-academic transfer arrangements will be based on a list of admissions criteria prioritised by the individual school's board of governors. The list will include family (first/eldest child, currently attending brother or sister); geography (parish, catchment area, nearest suitable school e.g Irish medium); community (feeder primary school); and tie breaker. The system of transfer will also take account of rurality with the department monitoring the application of the criteria.

There will be a programme of targeted school improvement and a strategic approach to improving numeracy and literacy, The entitlement framework (with 24 courses at least one third academic, one third vocational at 14 and 27 courses at 16), schools collaborating with each other in local areas and with FE and other education providers. Across the system there will be improvements to deliver academic excellence and excellence in the vocational and applied subjects and skills that are required.

The pro-grammar lobby and others are arguing about a postcode lottery but no one seems to be mentioning those children who have for years been excluded from the local grammar school on the basis of the 11-plus.

The Minister's proposals will not end academic excellence. These proposals will allow all schools to deliver educational excellence — in academic subjects and vocational or applied subjects. Children will follow an inclusive curriculum where they will be streamed and can move between streams. At 14 they will make informed choices about their educational pathway in a similar way they do now when choosing their GCSE subjects.

I would urge people to study the proposals and to work with educationalists and the Minister and help manage the transition into the new system. These proposals offer us a sensible, planned and reasonable road map away from the current system and into one which can enhance academic excellence while at the same time delivering equal opportunities for all children.

No, says Chairman of Association for Quality Education Sir Ken Bloomfield

EARLIER this week we all became aware of Caitriona Ruane's proposals to the Northern Ireland Executive and there was the inevitable general call on the " usual suspects" for comment.

As chairman of the Association for Quality Education I found myself being asked by sundry commentators whether the schools we represented would be pleased by this "concession".

I had no opportunity to canvass all of the 31 schools so far associated with us, or even to convene our planning group, but my own judgment was that the minister was now offering us, as academic schools, essentially a death sentence with stay of execution. It is now apparent that I did not misjudge the reaction of colleagues.

It has also become clear that, yet again, the minister has shown an extraordinary, indeed almost unique, ability to alienate almost everyone concerned.

If, for our category of schools, the "concession" was worthless, so for the opponents of academic selection it was an astounding reversal of course. Our Association had made it clear that, pending any appropriate provision by government, and as long as it remained lawful to do so, we would as a last resort make available our own robust system of tests. Those who opposed our stance thereafter suggested that tests could not be related to the new curriculum or held in grammar schools.

Now, forsooth, we had the minister herself suggesting just such tests in just such schools, albeit as an "interim measure". Essentially, then, three cohorts of children would be used as "guinea pigs" before the final proscription of academic selection.

We, for our part, have argued that Northern Ireland must continue to operate as a democracy, however bizarre and fragile its institutions.

It was a clear understanding at St Andrews that academic criteria for selection could be retained, unless and until the Assembly, on a cross-community voting basis, decided otherwise. It has long been clear that no such decision was likely. It has been equally clear from poll after poll of wider opinion that the banning of academic selection does not have the approval of a majority of the people of Northern Ireland.

The AQE continues to be committed to the provision of a robust testing regime if this is the only means of filling a policy vacuum. We cannot allow schools to end the academic year without a clear indication of the options open to schools, parents and children.

We will therefore create, in the form of a company limited by guarantee, an instrument for the provision or commissioning of tests, and set out in full what will be involved if we are obliged, as a last resort, to move in this direction.

We reject utterly attempts to characterise us as "rebel" schools or as aiming for independent status.

Northern Ireland has never wanted or required a system under which parents of means can buy for their children entry into schools of choice by paying astronomical fees at private schools or acquiring proximity to a prestigious school by paying premium prices for property. We want a solution, not a conflict with the minister and her department.