:: press release ::

Friday May 23, 2008

DUP EDUCATION PLANS WILL DELIVER FOR ALL SCHOOLS

East Antrim DUP Assembly Member Alastair Ross MLA has spoken to a group of young people in his constituency about education issues and rubbished the claim that the DUP is only interested in grammar schools.

Responding to a number of questions about a possible way forward, Mr Ross outlined the proposals put forward by the DUP and explained how the DUP plan would be good for all pupils, and schools.

Commenting Mr Ross said,

“There are three indisputable facts that any new education policy must incorporate. Firstly that academic selection is safeguarded in legislation following DUP negotiations at St Andrews, a fact now conceded by Sinn Fein in their ‘leaked’ party education document. Recent polls also show that more people today support the retention of academic selection than did ten years ago, including 64% of Sinn Fein voters.

The second inescapable fact is that there are falling pupil numbers, and there will undoubtedly need to be a rationalisation of the school estate. Grammars will never struggle to fill their places, so in a time of falling pupil numbers it is the secondary schools which would suffer.

The final reality is that grammars are delivering excellence in education, and Northern Ireland continues to outperform other regions of the UK at GCSE and A Level. We also have more young people from lower income families going to University than anywhere else in the United Kingdom, thanks largely to the selection system that is based solely on merit and academic ability as opposed to geography or income. If the bottom end of the system is not working, it is not rectified by dismantling the top.

Given these facts, it is important that any education proposals incorporate these legal, academic and demographic realities.

Since the Minister has refused to produce any workable proposals, our Party held a number of public meetings throughout the Province and outlined our own ideas. Firstly, we would allow those schools which wanted to set an entrance exam to do so, although if a school wished to call itself a grammar school then pupils going to it must meet a certain academic criteria. This may mean that some grammars would have to go, but would maintain the standard required for academically focused schools.

The outworking of this requirement would mean that grammars could no longer fill empty spaces with children who did not reach the academic standard required. This would mean that secondary schools would not be put in jeopardy and would not simply take the surplus pupils once grammars had filled their own places.

In areas of Northern Ireland that wish to operate their own system, such as Craigavon or Kilkeel, then they would be entitled to do so, but importantly the option of academic selection would be available whether at 11 or 14.

Unfortunately thus far the Minister is sticking rigidly to her narrow Marxist party political ideology and is unwilling to come forward with any sensible, workable options. In the event that agreement cannot be reached, the fall back position would allow grammars to operate their own entrance exam, a fact again conceded by the Education Minister. ”