Minister for Mess and Confusion?
That was what the DUP's Michelle McIlveen called Caitriona Ruane after the Education Minister announced her proposed shake up of our schools. Although I suspect from the way Sammy Wilson chortled at the joke that he had suggested it to Ms McIlveen before she road tested it on the Chamber.
Talking of road testing, Sammy Wilson missed his briefing with Ms Ruane on the changes because he got stuck in traffic. The Minister asssured the Education Committee chair that if her changes are adopted there will be less traffic on the roads as most children will be going to their local school.
Unmollified, Mr Wilson reckoned the statement contained a "spoonful of substance and a plateful of platitude".
The Ulster Unionists complained that such an important topic should have been brought to the Executive first. The Culture Minister Edwin Poots declared that he had not been informed. But Ms Ruane responded that the Minister had obviously not checked his post, as she had already written to him.
In terms of substance, the Minister appears to be leaving it up to local areas whether they have new junior high schools from 11 - 14, or whether they continue with 11 - 19 schools. But so far there are no maps of exactly what those areas will be, and no firm idea yet of who will sit on area based planning groups which will decide the structure of local schools. Despite this emphasis on geography, Ms Ruane denies she's setting up a "post code lottery".
The Bain review on education said that such educational areas should "as far as possible lie within a single local council area to facilitate links between education planning and community planning". But of course our council areas are still very much in flux.
Finally there was a sting in the tail of the Minister's statement when she warned grammar schools that if they adopt independent admissions arrangements the Education department will feel under no obligation to assist with funding. I'm not clear at the time of writing whether this refers to funding independent transfer tests or to funding the grammar schools themselves.
That threat prompted a predictable response from pro-grammar unionists. The DUP's Maurice Morrow warned that she would never get the changes through the Executive or the Assembly. There's no doubt this will test the St Andrews' rules on collective Executive action to destruction.
UPDATE: Since I made this entry Minister Ruane has clarified that her threat to the grammar schools is to refuse funding any independent tests they might adopt, not to stop general funding to the schools themselves. She hasn't clarified whether her proposed changes will be subject to a cross community vote, although her use of the word "regulation" implies that she believes she can push a new system through without recourse to legislation, which would require such a vote. This may be technically possible, but it's hard to imagine that the issue will not get escalated somewhere along the line.
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'I'm not clear at the time of writing' how could you be Mark the
Minister was asked three times and was deliberately vague on all three occasions
I for one, I am glad that this outdated, competitive and discriminatory educational system will be revamped. Why should I as a taxpayer pay for other parents kids to attend a superior school whilst my own child has to settle for second best?
Does Michelle McIlveen ever say anything positive about her non-DUP colleagues?
So they can stick with grammars or adopt the Dickson Plan, which has been operating for about 40 years.
Revolutionary.
Glad to see it going. We in Northern Ireland fail more children at GCSE than any other country in the UK. While our top kids get great results we disgracefully fail those who are less advantaged. How we can ever expect to measure intelligence at 11 is beyond me.
Also, from a political point of view this could provide some more problems within the executive and hopefully lead to more squabbling and perhaps speed up UUP and SDLP withdrawel.
Its about time someone with a bit of sense proposed something other than the outdated system that tests 11 year olds. If they fail the 11+ they feel like failures and too much pressure is put on children at such a young age. I agree that 14 is a better age to decide what direction your life and education should take. Well done Catriona for taking this brave step.
It seems to me that the honourable Education Minister has lost her mind. The transfer test is a system that has worked for many years and without radical interference, would continue to work for many years to come. Surely it is ludicrous for her to suggest that this situation will not degrade into a post-code lottery when one of her suggestions for selection is proximity to a school.
The introduction of such a comprehensive system would only serve to fail the children of Northern Ireland further as the extremely gifted will be grouped with more remedial students. This would be unfair to both groups of students and could be a serious travisty for our education system.
At the moment a relatively large percentage of children are accepted into the school of their first choice, so I fail to see the point in making this one of the most important criteria for entry into a post primary school, as if to prioritise it in some way when it obviously shouldn't be a priority.
The whole debacle over a cross community vote is a disgrace. Miss Ruane seems to be under the persuasion that she can in some way force these proposals through the assembly. She is turning this most serious issue into a political Tennis Ball, but then again maybe she was a better tennis player than representative of the people
I am disappointed with our unionist politicans from the DUP and UUP. Many parents quietly hale the end of the 11 plus as a return to normal stress free family life. I also wonder why the are not ambitious for ALL our children. Can a bricky not know and love good poetry? Can a clerk typist not understand and appreciate history?
Its time to cut free from the shackles of the past and give the children in unionist homes the representation they deserve. End the 11 plus, agree on 14 and get behind the plans and ensure they are implemented effectively. All MLAs are responsible for childrens' education - not just the Minister!
Afraid your 'clarification' is either unclear or ungrammatical, Mark.
As Bob says, the Minister was asked to clarify this comment on funding refusal three times, by Trevor Lunn, Michelle McIlveen and myself. Twice she didn't answer, the third time she said she had answered already.
Those who weren't there can read Hansard for further confusion.
Let's have a referendum and see - I am sure the majority of people will vote to end 11+. 14 is a better age to be tested. To be told you are a failure at 11 is cruel and distressing.
David Forde obviously has too much time on his hands if he is spending his very well paid time blogging.
Some of the people making comments here have no real idea what Mrs Ruane's proposals will actually mean. She wants no testing at all, neithet at 11 nor at 14. The Dickson Plan in Craigavon does work but it is built on the back of rigorous testing!How are pupils going to be sure of getting into the school they want especially if it is oversubscribed? Estate agents here are already rubbing their hands in glee, at the prospect of a house buying boom in localities that lie close to popular schools. Then there is the little problem of the vast amounts of money time and effort that will be diverted from everyday needy projects like Special Needs provision, to implement and prop up such a comprehensive system that has so clearly failed in England. Who exactly is going to implement all of this change? It will probably end up in the hands of our teachers who are already overstretched to breaking point. They will be expected to ‘embrace this new challenge’, in other words do all the work, take all the flack and pick up all the pieces when it goes pear shaped. So much for choice then, with pupils being forced to go to their local school in year 8 whether or not it is best suited for their future development! So much too for democracy, when 64% of those surveyed stated that they wished for the retention of some form of academic selection!
I have no doubt that Mrs Ruane is well meaning but I believe she is completely misguided in her educational vision for the future. I also find it wildly hypocritical that sends her own two children, who live in Co Louth, to a grammar school in Newry, side stepping the non selective comprehensive schools south of the border!
Who does Ms Ruane think she is? 10 years on after Tony Blair famously delivered his election promise "Education, Education, Education" what is Ms Ruane doing? Our children now a days are becoming more and more illiterate. Surely at a time when our children need basic education as well as manners we need to maintain a first class education system. Ms Ruane should instead of stopping the transfer test introduce measures to help everyone get the transfer test and then go to the best possible school available. If children don’t then society will deteriorate further. In order to see what happens when education fails why doesn’t Ms Ruane look round her own constituency? In several county Down towns anti-social behaviour is at an all time high. Recently in Downpatrick Police in Riot gear were needed to restore calm to a residential area. The ages of these yobs aged from 12-18. Why? Children with no education or manners were causing a string of criminal offenses from theft to riotous assembly and riotous behaviour. For all people in favour of ending the transfer test all I say is wise up. To say children have enough pressure is rubbish. Learn at an early age how to handle live the quicker anti social behaviour and underage drinking stops.
The vast majority of teachers from the Protestant community I spoke to do not like the 11 plus. They are not anti-testing to check a child's ability, how else can we check it, but think a later age is preferrable. I always wondered why vocational citizens are not generally respected by some as highly cultural with ability to appreciate music, poetry, art and history. I know a labouring man who possesses a phenomenal memory and knowledge of history. The clever child deserves opportunity to develop at their pace but need not be viewed as the only substantial contribution to society and career. Of course Sinn Fein/IRA are marxist in partnership with a very right wing political party. Time will tell what "compromise" will be reached behind the usual closed doors.
Mrs Catriona Ruane’s ‘I know what’s best for your children’, pronouncement, on the future of Education in Northern Ireland is a recipe for disaster! Northern Ireland already has a tried and tested world class educational system. Unbelievably she wishes to dismantle it, for little more reason than her feeling that it seems a good idea! It now appears that the Northern Ireland electorate is subject to major educational decisions being made to further fanciful political ideology, from a lady that up until recently had very little to do with education! Teachers already overstretched to breaking point will be expected to ‘embrace this new challenge’, in other words do all the work, take all the flack and pick up all the pieces. They do not need this massive upheaval. Vast amounts of money time and effort will be diverted from everyday needy projects to implement and prop up a comprehensive system that has so clearly failed in England. Estate agents here are already rubbing their hands in glee, at the prospect of a house buying boom in localities that lie close to popular schools. So much for choice then, with pupils being forced to go to their local school in year 8 whether or not it is best suited for their future development! So much too for democracy, when 64% of those surveyed stated that they wished for the retention of some form of academic selection!
I have no doubt that Mrs Ruane is well meaning but I believe she is completely misguided in her educational vision for the future. I also find it wildly hypocritical that sends her own two children, who live in Co Louth, to a grammar school in Newry, side stepping the non selective comprehensive schools south of the border!
Who does Ms Ruane think she is? 10 years on after Tony Blair famously delivered his election promise "Education, Education, Education" what is Ms Ruane doing? Our children now a days are becoming more and more illiterate. Surely at a time when our children need basic education as well as manners we need to maintain a first class education system. Ms Ruane should instead of stopping the transfer test introduce measures to help everyone get the transfer test and then go to the best possible school available. If children don’t then society will deteriorate further. In order to see what happens when education fails why doesn’t Ms Ruane look round her own constituency? In several county Down towns anti-social behaviour is at an all time high. Recently in Downpatrick Police in Riot gear were needed to restore calm to a residential area. The ages of these yobs aged from 12-18. Why? Children with no education or manners were causing a string of criminal offenses from theft to riotous assembly and riotous behaviour. For all people in favour of ending the transfer test all I say is wise up. To say children have enough pressure is rubbish. Learn at an early age how to handle live the quicker anti social behaviour and underage drinking stops.
I think the 11 plus should be abolished as children whose birtdays fall in the later part of the year are penalised by getting marks taken off. For example a child whose birtday is in September will lose 10 marks. How can this be classed as fair.