Belfast Telegraph Opinion Piece by David McNarry
Contrary to Government spin, falling school registers are not the product of an overnight discovery.
It just happens that those in key roles, who knew years ago that demographic trends would result in fewer pupils, decided to make its effect on schools public only recently - and not in 1996.
Was this withholding of information an opportunity seized upon by manipulative civil servants anxious to exploit Direct Rule and introduce into our education provision the seeds of a sinister, highly skilled piece of political and social engineering?
Whatever the reason, and the truth will out, parents and pupils have to pick up the pieces scattered by today’s policy makers.
As a result primary schools face uncertainty and the needless vulnerability of closure, or at best mergers.
How many parents are aware of the future status of their local primary schools? Do young parents choosing a school this year know that the school will even exist when the time comes to enrol? Do they know, following enrolment, whether their choice of primary school is sustainable?
Last week DENI issued guidelines for parents on transferring to post-primary schools. Missing are the Government’s prior firm commitments on primary schools detailing their future sustainability and structures.
The continued absence of such a commitment has the making of a serious omission and contractual offence by the Government against parents.
DENI’s ambivalent attitude to primary schools is particularly alarming when this year’s infant intake figures indicate a further decline in numbers.
Recently the Government trumpeted that the Review of Public Administration will result in a more streamlined administration of our education system.
Hopefully, and if proven true, a good case can be made for savings flowing from this to be ploughed back into our primary schools.
Central to this is the survival of schools and the prevention of widespread closures. What cannot be allowed is an overnight announcement stripping out the heart of a community by telling them that with immediate effect a primary school will close.
And isn’t it intolerable to find that despite the Government using the might of its resources, rather than the force of its argument, parents, pupils and teachers will be pressurised into accepting its imposition of reforms.
Government cannot stand up to the scrutiny of measurement against its own sustainable schools policy. Why? Because so far, after such a long period of waiting, Government have failed to produce a sustainable schools policy.
Young parents are interested in these issues. They require and deserve answers and good guidance in order to plan their children’s first steps into the schools ladder.
Where are the Government guarantees to them that they can choose a primary school with a sustainable future? Earlier I mentioned social engineering. Prepare to watch this space for future developments.
In Northern Ireland, New Labour sells us ‘year zero’ economics, failed comprehensives and unsustainable futures. In England, they pledge ‘forward not back’, ‘investment not cuts’, and ‘Building Schools for the Future’.
Early years schooling is the foundation for Building improved educational opportunities for children. Aptitudes encouraged and developed at primary schools inform and shape the skills and interests of pupils throughout their careers and prepare them for life’s challenges.
Getting early development right is key to improving educational outcomes in the long term. That means getting the right environment in place to make primary and pre-primary work for all our children. Today this is a demand, not a request of Government.