Ruane is Alice in Wonderland

I have just listened to Ministerial Question Time in The Northern Ireland Assembly with Caitriona Ruane MLA.

During her answers she claimed that the primary curriculum will not be distorted this year because of the ending of the 11plus and that children across the North will NOT spend time in the coming academic year preparing for a test.

This is an unbelievable statement and plainly misleading. True, there will be no state exam but fact is there is already the AQE exam and there will most likely be a Catholic sector exam to select children for grammar schools.

In fact the situation is potentially worse then at any point in the past as children may well have to sit a "Catholic 11plus" and a "Protestant 11plus". All deregulated.

How long will this Assembly let this Minister continue to live like Alice in Wonderland?

The future of Catholic education?

The Catholic Church has been regularly criticized for its lukewarm attitude to integrated education. In particular, the Church authorities have always made clear their opposition to transformation, that is, the right in legislation for parents to vote to change a school to integrated status. In consequence only controlled schools have transformed since 1989. The argument the Catholic authorities have always advanced against transformation is that a school belongs to a community, not to a particular group of parents, and that therefore it is wrong for the interests of a particular group to over-ride the interests of a wider community. Now, whether you accept this argument or not, it suddenly seems weaker. In the impasse over the future of academic selection some Catholic grammar schools have announced their intention to continue selecting on the basis of tests and many more are expected to follow. This is despite the clear acceptance by the Catholic Bishops of the need for an end to academic selection at 11 on social justice grounds. In an attempt to restore some coherence to the Catholic sector, the Bishops have asked a group of secondary and grammar principals to seek agreement on a way forward. If they fail and some or most of the Catholic grammar schools go their own way, then we may be witnessing the end of the Catholic education system in any meaningful sense of the term.

Burns 'deeply regrets' impasse

It's results day and many families will be digesting the last set of 11plus results ever to arrive on a door mat. Next year's pupils have a much more uncertain future with the possibility that many children will have to sit multiple exams in different schools.

Kathryn Torney in the Belfast Telegraph reports on the continued uncertainty and Professor Tony Gallagher's call for compromise first published on this blog.

Gerry Burns, who is Pro-Chancellor of the University of Ulster and chaired a group in 2001 that published a report on the future of the 11-plus and post-primary education, has also said he deeply regrets the continuing row over the future of selection in Northern Ireland.

His, Burns Report, played a big part in Martin McGuinness's decision to do away with the test during his tenure as Education Minister in 2001.

According to the Newsletter, Mr Burns stopped short of direct criticism of Education Minister Caitriona Ruane's role in the current morass, but admits the whole affair has been badly managed.

Mr Burns said his report was aimed at redressing the social problem of disadvantaged children not making it into grammar schools – and the 11-plus was part of that problem.

He said he still stands behind the report and its conclusions but regrets that education has become a political football.

"It's all now in the realm of politics, which is a world I am not familiar with, but I deeply, deeply regret the confrontation that has developed," said Mr Burns.

"One couldn't help but be critical of the way things have developed.

"People in Northern Ireland don't like to be confronted – and when you do that, you will not achieve a great deal.

"I still feel there is room for consensus, I still hope there is – otherwise, people worried about their kids, what do they do?

"Primary teachers are also being forgotten in all of this and they are a very important part of the whole system.

"I just hope there is still some room for compromise."